


Home is Where the Heart is

by rhub4rb



Category: Batman - All Media Types, DCU (Comics), Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: Angst, F/M, Guardian Marinette Dupain-Cheng, Hurt/Comfort
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-10-01
Updated: 2020-03-11
Packaged: 2020-11-09 01:03:07
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 14
Words: 27,527
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20844980
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/rhub4rb/pseuds/rhub4rb
Summary: Marinette has to go to Gotham to find one Alfred Pennyworth, but why?Leaving behind her old life and coming to Gotham, Marinette learns the meaning and the importance of having a home and having a life worth living.Add in some romance with a cute boy with blue eyes and you have Home is Where the Heart is.





	1. Running for a home

Running around Gotham and living in abandoned buildings had never really been part of Marinette’s plan. Not that Marinette had much of a plan in the first place, but pretending like she did made her feel slightly better about her situation.

It was her third night in Gotham, trying to find one Alfred Pennyworth.

Master Fu hadn’t known where the former Miraculous holder was, and it had only been because Duusu could sense Alfred slightly that Marinette was even in Gotham in the first place.

She didn’t get to Gotham with a plane like a normal person though, she got there with the help of Kaalki.

It was kind of hard to take a plane somewhere without any type of legal papers.

She had no ID, no passport, no birth certificate.

Marinette had tried different ways to find Alfred, she had even checked to see if he was dead, despite Duusu being able to sense him, just to be safe. It had all been a bust so far, but Marinette wasn’t planning on giving up.

She wasn’t quite sure what she would be doing if she did.

At least she didn’t have any issues with money. Master Fu had left all of his money, which was a surprisingly high amount, for her when he passed away. Marinette didn’t try and bother with sleeping at a hotel though. Most places in Gotham wanted some form of legitimization, and when all she had was money upfront, not many people would be willing to rent her a room.

Her first night in Gotham, Marinette had rented a room in a Motel, and after that, she swiftly made the decision to never do that again. She still got shudders when thinking about it.

It was after a long day of a lot of searching, and a lot of nothing, that Marinette found herself sitting on the roof of a random building at night, looking over the city.

It reminded her of late-night patrols with Chat Noir, resting at the Eiffel tower, teasing and talking to one another.

Marinette hadn’t even registered that she was going to cry until the tears fell down her cheeks. She quickly wiped them away, despite no one being around to see her cry. It was in the small things, and it made it hard for her to concentrate on her new mission, but Marinette wouldn’t break. Breaking meant to her that she regretted her decision, and Marinette couldn’t regret her decision. She just _couldn’t._

Marinette was brought out of her thoughts by the sound of footsteps, and she was quick to get on her feet and look for the source of the sound.

There, on the building next to the one Marinette had been sitting on, was one Nightwing, a Gotham vigilante, if Marinette remembered correctly.

He took a step forward, opening his mouth to say something probably, but Marinette never gave him the chance.

She ran.

Nightwing shouted at her to stop, but Marinette didn’t listen. If he caught her, Marinette didn’t know what she would do or say. The risk was too big.

She reached the edge of the roof, and rather than stopping like Nightwing probably expected her to, Marinette jumped.

For one heart-stopping moment, she didn’t touch the ground, until she landed on the other building in a roll. Marinette didn’t look behind her to see if he followed, focusing instead on just getting away.

* * *

It was a regular patrol, the bat family splitting up to cover as much of Gotham as possible, when Dick spotted a girl sitting at the edge of a roof on a tall building. Her shoulders were shaking, as if she was crying, and his mind immediately went to the thought of the girl jumping off.

Dick took a step forward to stop her. She must have heard him when he started approaching her, because her head snapped up to look at him. Her eyes were red and puffy, but Dick couldn’t see much more than that. The lower half of her face was covered by a black surgical mask.

Dick was going to talk to her, but before he even got the chance to, she bolted. He yelled at her to stop, only for her to jump off the building. Dick thought for a moment that it was it, that she was going to fall and he wouldn’t be fast enough to save her.

But then she landed on the other side in a roll and just kept running.

Dick stopped at the edge where she had jumped, just watching as her form became smaller and smaller the farther she went.

He touched the comm in his ear, his brothers’ voices going off, asking him what happened.

“I think I just ran into another street kid.”

He couldn’t see her anymore.

“I thought she was going to jump off the roof, but…” Dick shook his head. “I’ll explain more at home.”

Still, the image of her red puffy eyes stuck with him through the rest of the patrol. Her distant look was familiar to him. Grief. Mourning. Dick didn’t like thinking of the implications of what it could mean.

She didn’t look very old either, probably around Damian’s age if Dick had to make a guess.

His mind ran through the possibilities of who she could possibly be, but he knew that this wasn’t his place of expertise. Tim could probably come up with more answers than he could.

The girl must have been trained in some way though. She shouldn’t have been able to make that jump, couldn’t without some form of training. It was too fluid, clearly something she had done before. She had been fast too.

Maybe he should have chased after her…

* * *

Marinette let out a tired sigh as she slipped inside the abandoned apartment she had been sleeping in.

All the windows were covered and blocked with planks, as were the doors, but Marinette had found a loose plank that she could pull off to get in.

She sat on the cold floor, resting her head against the wall and closing her eyes for a few seconds, trying to calm her hammering heart. She took off her backpack, where the Miraculous box was in, and placed it in her lap.

“That was close.”

Tikki.

Marinette cracked an eye open, looking at her kwami and giving a tired nod.

“We’re still no closer to finding Alfred,” Tikki added, making Marinette sigh tiredly.

“I know Tikki, I… I’ll figure something out, I promise.”

It was quiet for a moment, as Tikki just looked over her chosen.

Bags way too big for a seventeen-year-old were under her eyes, and her hair was a mess from the wind after she had run away. Marinette looked exhausted.

“Don’t worry, Marinette, it’s going to be okay,” Tikki nuzzled her cheek, and Marinette fought hard not to cry again.

“It’s just- it’s so _hard_.”

Tikki had been Marinette’s rock since the final battle against Hawkmoth. She had been against Marinette’s plan, but she also knew there was nothing she could do to dissuade her chosen from the plan that Marinette had made.

So instead, Tikki supported her chosen through her grieving, not letting her be alone when she was hurting.

Marinette had always put others before herself, and it was painful to see her force herself through this mission. It made Tikki worry.

Would Marinette dedicate her life to the Miraculous and the order? Tikki hoped not.

Marinette didn’t even have a sketchbook with her. She kept saying that it was because she simply didn’t have the time, but Tikki knew better.

Perhaps she could talk Marinette into taking a break tomorrow. Alfred Pennyworth was probably not going anywhere, and if he did, then Duusu would be able to tell.

Tikki just didn’t want to watch her chosen wither away.

“There’s no threat right now, it’s okay.”

Marinette took a few shaky breaths before giving Tikki a watery smile.

“Thank you, Tikki. I wouldn’t be able to do this without you.”

“There’s nothing to thank me for Marinette, you deserve so much more than all of this. After we find Alfred, we’re going to look for a new home.”

The look Tikki gave Marinette left no room for argument, and Marinette found herself agreeing with her Kwami.

She couldn’t continue living the way she was now, staying in abandoned places. It was cold, and Marinette was worried about what she would do once it was winter. She would be going into hibernation mode, and without a proper place to stay, Marinette feared she would freeze to death before she managed to rebuild the order. It just wasn’t that easy when there was no documentation of Marinette Dupain-Cheng.

But, she could think about that later. For now, her first priority would be to find Alfred.

* * *

"What happened out there?" Asked Bruce, looking at his oldest son.

"I don't really know, if I'm honest," Dick said, looking at the rest of his family with furrowed brows. "She was crying, I’m sure about that, but..." Dick trailed off, shaking his head.

"You thought she was going to jump?" Bruce asked. He had heard what his son had been saying over the comm when it happened, but he wanted to be sure.

"She did jump, over to the other building," Dick said, eyes trying to convey what he was saying. "She took a leap of faith with a three-meter distance."

It was quiet in the Batcave as they all stared at the oldest Robin in disbelief.

"She jumped between the buildings?" Jason asked, just to be sure.

"And all the other buildings after that. She has experience of some kind, but why?"

Dick was mostly confused about the whole thing. He knew that look in her eyes though, for that split second he saw them. She was grieving.

"I think she might be a new street kid," Dick said, and the others looked at him in confusion.

"Why do you think that?" Tim asked from his seat by the computer, trying to find the girl via security cameras around the city.

"She was crying when I spotted her, it was part of the reason that I thought she was going to jump off in the first place. She must be new to the streets," Dick said, shrugging. "Doesn't explain her experience with free-running though."

Tim let out an annoyed sigh by the computer, before turning around to face the others.

"Either way, I can't find her on any cameras. Don't know how that is but..."

It was concerning, and a tense quiet took over the family, as they thought of the possibilities.

"We'll keep a lookout for her. If you spot her running rooftops, you'll report and try to approach her cautiously. She's too much of a mystery for us to not be careful,” Bruce ordered.

It wasn't rare for the members of the bat family to spot street kids. Honestly, they saw them on a daily basis. But one running across the rooftops with expertise was more concerning, and when they didn't know if she could actually pose a threat, they needed to be careful.

Dick just felt bad about it. And he was worried.

He was convinced that she was going to jump off. He didn't know what he would do if he was unable to stop it before it happened.

* * *


	2. Meetings at home

Marinette woke up cold and sore. Sleeping sitting on the floor was never all that comfortable, and she had yet to actually get used to not be sleeping in a bed.

Tikki was sleeping in the backpack, where the Miraculous box and the grimoires were. There wasn't much else in there, besides a wallet with all her money, and a comb Master Fu gave her.

Marinette rose, stretching her limbs and listened with satisfaction as she heard her bones pop and crack.

Yep, sleeping on the floor was never going to be comfortable.

Marinette started going through a list of things they had yet to do to track down Alfred. She was now on day four, and with no clue where he might be, Marinette felt lost. Tracking down people had never been her expertise. It took her four years to track down Hawkmoth!

It was stressing her out. For some reason, it felt like a ticking time bomb was hovering over her head, and that if she didn't find Alfred soon, it would go off.

She let out a tired sigh, rummaging through her backpack, being careful of Tikki, and took put the comb Fu had given her.

Things really didn't turn out the way she had expected. Flashes of the final battle with Hawkmoth popped up to the front of her mind, and Marinette dropped the comb as she had been brushing her hair, waking Tikki up with the sound.

"Marinette?" Tikki mumbled, her words slurred from sleep.

"Just go back to sleep Tikki, I'll wake you up when we go. I want to go to the library again and see if I can find anything in their archives."

It was hard doing this sort of thing when she had no idea where she should be looking, but she wouldn't give up! Master Fu had trusted her with this, and she wouldn't fail him.

"I was thinking..." Tikki said, flying up to Marinette. "Maybe we should take a break from looking for Alfred."

Marinette stared at Tikki in disbelief for a few seconds.

Tikki wanted her to take a break from Miraculous matters?

"But Master Fu said-"

"I know what Master Fu said," Tikki cut Marinette off. "But I don't think he would mind if you took some time to take care of yourself. I mean look at you!" Tikki gestured at Marinette, probably trying to convey all of her, but with her tiny paws, only being able gesture at her head. "You can't even sleep properly because we have no place to stay!"

Marinette looked down to the floor, not wanting to look Tikki in the eyes.

She was aware of how bad things were for her at the moment, and if she was honest, she had no idea what she would do once she found Alfred, but taking a break just felt... wrong.

"Just for today Marinette, take a break. Let's go out and buy you a new sketchbook and some pencils, get some nice food, do something. This isn't good for you."

Marinette and Tikki stared at each other for a while, seeing who would cave first.

It was Marinette.

"Fine, but only for today. Tomorrow, we go straight back into looking for Alfred. I want to look for a place to stay as soon as we've found him."

Tikki whooped in victory, surprising Marinette before she smiled fondly at the kwami. Cupping Tikki in her hands, Marinette kissed her on the black spot on her head.

"Thank you, Tikki," Marinette smiled, picking up her backpack. "How about we go and find an art store somewhere?"

And with that, Tikki flew back inside the backpack, and Marinette crawled out of the window, heading back into the city.

* * *

Jon was late. He knew he was late, and he also knew that it was a very bad idea to be late when he was meeting Damian.

But it wasn't his fault he couldn't find his textbook! He knew he had placed it _somewhere_, but...

Either way, he had found it now, which was what was important. Now, all he had to do was get to Wayne manor without getting distracted, while also thinking up a plausible excuse to avoid another lecture. The last one had taken an hour, and he would rather not relive it.

He wasn't flying to the Wayne manor. The last time he had done so, an incident that everyone had sworn not to speak of again happened, and now Alfred had forbidden him to take that route. Jon had decided not to argue the man about it, he had learned his lesson the last time he tried.

But perhaps it was for the better, because just as he ran around a corner, trying to catch up on lost time, he ran straight into another person.

He stayed standing, but the person fell to the ground with a thud. Jon was quick to react, giving his hand to the stranger to help them up.

When the person looked up, Jon was met with clear, bluebell eyes, freckles smattering along cheekbones, and pink, parted lips.

"Oh! Uh, I'm so sorry for running into you miss," Jon smiled at her, and it only widened when she accepted his extended hand.

"It's okay, I wasn't really looking where I was going either..."

She had an accent! It was absolutely adorable, and the way she scrunched up her nose as she tried to remember the words didn't help.

"Don't worry about it, I should have slowed down a bit when I turned the corner," Jon realized he was still holding her hand and hastily let go. "The name is Jonathan, but you can call me Jon."

The girl smiled blindingly at him, and he faintly thought to himself that Damian wouldn't mind waiting for a couple more minutes.

"I'm Marinette," She said, before looking around. "Uhh, you wouldn't happen to know where I could find an art store, would you?" She asked.

He didn't. Jon knew he didn't know the direction to any art store, knew that it would probably be a bad idea to agree and that Damian was waiting for him, but...

He looked at the girl. Her midnight hair was done up in pigtails going past her shoulders, she was wearing a red and black letterman jacket, with black pants that he couldn't guess the material of. She was looking at him with soft, patient eyes, and all logic flew out the window.

"I don't think I do," Jon said, and immediately saw Marinette deflating. "but I would love to help you find one!" He quickly added, and she perked up.

"Thank you so much!" Marinette exclaimed, and so the two were off, guided by Google Maps to the nearest art store.

"First time in Gotham?" Jon asked, after a while of silence.

Marinette nodded.

"Is it that obvious?" She asked with awkward laughter.

"The accent might have helped give it away," Jon replied with a grin. "Where are you from?"

Her smile faltered, but it happened so quick that Jon doubted that it even happened.

"Paris, France," She said, but the cheer in her voice sounded fake. Jon decided to quickly change the subject.

"So, an art store, huh?" Marinette seemed to become less stiff immediately, and Jon was happy to find that he had made the right decision.

"I like to design clothes," She said, smiling proudly. "I made all the clothes that I'm wearing."

Jon was impressed. He, for one, could not make his own clothes, he didn't even know how to sew! And, he noted, she looked quite cute in the clothes that she had made.

"I couldn't even tell it was handmade!" He grinned. "Maybe you could make me something some time."

Jon was proud of the pretty pink color that spread across her cheeks.

"Maybe we could arrange something," She said, smiling.

"Do you want to be a designer?" Jon asked, and he kicked himself as he saw her wilt a little again.

"I um, I used to, I mean, I want to, but-" Marinette cut herself off and just shrugged. "It's taken a backseat for now. But I want to," She smiled a small smile. "I really, really want to."

Jon beamed at her reply, and they started talking about anything and everything. If Jon noticed how she avoided certain topics, he didn't mention it, instead happily talking about his family and his best friend.

"So, this is my stop," Marinette said, twisting her hands behind her back as she kicked the ground in front of her.

"Yeah! I should probably go and meet my friend too, he's probably not going to be too happy with me being late," Marinette giggled in response, and went to open the door of the art store. "Can I get your number?" Jon asked, before Marinette could walk in.

She turned around, not really looking at him as she fiddled with her hands again.

"I um, I don't have a phone," She admitted sheepishly. Jon was disappointed, but Marinette was quick to try and make it better. "But if we meet again, I would love to go out for coffee?" She asked hesitantly.

It wasn't a promise that they would meet again, Jon knew that the likelihood of it happening was next to none, but dangit she was cute and she seemed interested, so he would take the chance.

"Yeah, I think that'd be great!"

The lecture he received from Damian for being twenty minutes late had been worth it.

* * *

Marinette's free day was going rather well. From the nice, high-quality sketchbook that had now taken residence in her backpack, to the cute guy who had gone with her to the art store, she could say that she was happy talked her into taking a break.

He had very pretty eyes, Marinette thought as she walked down another crowded street. It was too bad she didn't have a phone, but everything that used to be hers, save for the clothes that she had been wearing, was now gone. She hoped they would meet again though.

But now, Marinette was wandering a bit aimlessly at what she deemed to be the safer parts of Gotham. Sometimes it was hard to tell with this City, but after walking around for four days non-stop, it started to get a little more familiar to her. She knew the rooftops the best, after having run around there every night. Marinette never took part in stopping a criminal, but she couldn't stay still either.

Marinette wondered what she would do once she found Alfred. Hopefully, he would join the order and help her rebuild it, whether they would do that together or apart however, that was another case entirely. She wasn't sure if Gotham would be a place she would want to stay. It seemed like a bad place to find trustworthy people.

As Marinette walked, she passed different stores, some she would look in, some she wouldn't. It was mainly just to pass time, and she never bought anything. Marinette wouldn't know where to put it, and she didn't exactly have space in her backpack for much more.

It was when walking past one of the store windows that Marinette caught sight of her hair. She hadn't changed it since leaving Paris. It felt wrong to her in a way, like changing it would be cutting all ties she had to the city.

But maybe that was for the best. She knew she wasn't returning there, at least, not anytime soon. Then again, it wasn't like she was looking in the mirror all that often to even really notice.

Still...

Tikki had said that Marinette would have to let go at some point, didn't she?

Marinette touched one of her pigtails in thought, brushing her fingers through it as she considered it for a moment.

Just a trim. That couldn't hurt. Maybe she could even go to one of those salons that washed her hair! She hadn't exactly been able to shower since leaving Paris.

Marinette nodded to herself in finality, passer-bys looking at her with side-eyes.


	3. Panic at home

When it became night and it was time to head back to the apartment, Marinette decided to stay out again. If she was being honest, she wanted to spend as little time there as possible.

It wasn't that it was necessarily bad, it wasn't like she was sleeping on the streets, but there was just something about it that felt wrong to her.

For all intents and purposes, it was just an abandoned apartment building that she had chosen to reside in, but the emptiness of it all, it made her uncomfortable. After being used to a normal home, where she had a room and a warm bed, with the knowledge that her parents were just downstairs, sleeping in an empty and cold apartment felt weird.

But maybe it was just the lack of a bed that was talking.

Still, that meant Marinette was hopping around from roof to roof again, running the risk of meeting some of the vigilantes once more. The thought of the apartment made her continue with jumping around the roofs anyways.

Marinette was careful. She pulled up her hood, covering her now very short hair, in hopes that maybe the vigilantes wouldn't notice if she did run into them, also putting on her surgical mask. She didn't stay at one building for too long, she kept her eyes and ears open, and she even tried to be quiet. (Or as quiet as she could be when free-running.) There was a certain freedom in it all. Now that she wasn't spending every night patrolling and fighting, it was nice to be able to do what she always did without too much thought or care. The vigilantes were a threat, sure, but it was easy to become distracted by the city lights.

Maybe it had been a mistake for Marinette to go out again after already having a run-in, or maybe it was fate, but whatever it was, Marinette was cursing it as she brought herself to an abrupt halt.

Being as quiet as she possibly could, Marinette walked backward, keeping her eyes on the two forms of Robin and Superboy. Faintly, she wondered what Superboy was doing patrolling in Gotham, as she was certain it was only the ones associated with Batman who did that.

When she reached the edge of the roof, a couple buildings away from where Superboy and Robin were, she threw her legs over the ledge and grabbed hold of a rusty latter, hoping to every kwami that it would hold, before slowly and carefully lowering herself.

When she knew she was no longer visible to the duo, she let out a sigh of relief, before looking for a way to leave quickly and not grab their attention.

Marinette found that with a fire-escape. The fire-escape platform was metal, and there was a two-meter long drop from the latter to it, but she would rather do that then try her luck with the vigilante and hero not noticing her when they finally left.

Marinette crawled down the fire-escape as quietly as she could, looking down at the platform and taking in a breath, before letting go.

She landed on her feet, crouching down to distribute the impact, the clang of her shoes hitting the metal making her wince and hurry.

She breathed out a sigh of relief when she saw that the two didn't seem to follow her.

* * *

Nightwing took the same route he had the night before, hoping to spot the girl that had run away from him.

The sound of running footsteps brought Nightwing back to the present, just in time to see the same girl from the night before, come to a screeching halt. For a second, they just looked at each other, and Dick thought that maybe she wouldn't run away this time.

It seemed he had come to that conclusion too soon.

Just as he had the thought, the girl took off again, but this time, he knew better.

"I've found the girl from yesterday, she's running in Red Hood's direction!" He yelled into his comm as he took off running, finding himself surprised by the fact that the girl seemed to be faster than he was.

_"Do we even know why she keeps running from us?"_ Red Robin asked.

No. No, they did not, which was part of the reason why they even decided to keep an eye on her. The worry that she could be associated with the villains was real, and Dick hoped that they were wrong in thinking it.

_"Does it matter?"_ Sounded it from Red Hood.

With an ease he didn't expect, she jumped down from the roof and onto a fire-escape several meters away, not slowing her pace. They kept it up like that for a good while, her jumping and diving, Dick just keeping up with her.

Then Red Hood joined the fray, standing ready at the next building. Dick had fully expected her to come to a stop after that, but she didn't. Rather she sped up, and when she reached the edge, she jumped, grabbed a pipe that was along the corner, and swung herself in a third direction, away from the two.

"Oh, you've got to be kidding me!" Red Hood yelled.

"She's getting away!" Dick replied in panic.

When the two finally caught up to her, Red Robin was there as well and they surrounded her, giving her no place to escape.

"Now listen here, Little Lady-" Red Hood discovered that was the wrong thing to say, as the girl grabbed Dick who had slowly been walking towards her, and threw him over her shoulder and directly into Red Hood. Red Robin jumped into action, taking a swing at her with his bo staff. She evaded with ease, until finally, she wasn't quick enough to dodge his strike. Instead, she brought up her arms in an 'X' and ended up being pushed back by the force. Before Red Robin got the chance to hit again, she swiftly kicked him in the chest, sending him flying into his two brothers that had just gotten back up.

Sending the trio one last glance, the girl took off, disappearing out of sight before Robin and Superboy could arrive at the scene.

* * *

Marinette clutched her backpack close to her chest as she sat on the cold floor of the apartment. Her heart was hammering, blood pounding in her ears as she tried to calm herself down. That had been far too close to comfort.

If there was anything she was certain about now, it was that she wouldn't go roof jumping any time soon again.

The fighting had been a kneejerk reaction to the nickname. She hadn't meant to hurt them but...

Images of Chat Noir and Hawkmoth filled her mind, and she swallowed the bile that rose up in her throat.

Maybe she should have stayed and talked with Nightwing the first time she ran into him, but too many things depended on her finding Alfred. She didn't have any record or papers, she had no idea what Nightwing would do with her. She didn't even have a proper place to stay!

Now she had just drawn more attention to herself.

Marinette let out an irritated sigh, rubbing her face with her hands in frustration.

She would have to find Alfred and quick, no more distractions, and then leave Gotham as soon as possible. Hopefully, the vigilantes would just forget about her after she'd been gone for a while.

"We have to be careful," Tikki said, once Mariette opened up for her backpack. "We can't risk running into them again."

Marinette just nodded numbly.

Chat Noir constantly being on her mind wasn't good. There was no point to it anyways. If someone else made the mistake of using one of her former nicknames, she couldn't just attack them. Marinette would have to get some self-control, more than she already possessed.

"It's not your fault Marinette," Tikki said, trying to console her chosen.

"I know," Marinette said with a sigh, though Tikki doubted she actually meant it.

There were few things Marinette would talk about since Paris, and one of the things was Chat Noir. It had been a sore spot for Marinette, something Tikki understood. Chat Noir had a happier life now, things just didn't turn out the same for Marinette. Marinette knew who Chat Noir had been too. It wasn't as big of a shock to see Adrien Agreste as her pun-loving partner as she thought it would be.

Of course, it soured his betrayal just a bit. By the final battle with Hawkmoth, Marinette had moved on, decided that romance could wait until Paris was safe. She had thought that maybe, after the fight, something would happen between her and Chat. Maybe. But that was all in the past now, and it did her no good to keep thinking about it.

"No more distractions Tikki, no more free days. We can't risk it," Marinette said sternly, her eyes showing that she meant it. Tikki sighed in defeat.

"I know..." Tikki flew into the backpack slowly, head held down. Tikki understood that Marinette was stressed, it was the very thing Tikki was trying to prevent, but with everything that had happened in the last two weeks, it was undoubtedly inevitable. That didn't make it any better though.

* * *

"And that's about it, I think," Dick said, having explained what had happened when they met with the mystery girl again.

"You got beat by a little girl?" Damian asked in disbelief. When he and Jon had arrived to help, the girl was already gone, and the trio was sulking.

"Yeah yeah, just bruise our egos more, will you?" Jason grumbled, rubbing his chest as he remembered how Dick had been thrown at him.

"Now we know that she's a threat," Bruce cut off, before an argument could begin.

It was silent in the Batcave, Jon looking worried between the Wayne brothers, none of them seeming very happened by how the short fight had turned out. At first, Damian had cackled in disbelief by what happened, but now he found it more annoying than anything else.

"Do you at least have any clue as to who she is?" Damian asked. "Do you think she might be from the League?" A tension filled the air, Damian's expression dark and unreadable.

After a moment, Tim spoke up.

"I don't... think so," Tim said hesitantly. "If she was, why didn't she just kill us when she had the chance?"

"Maybe she's doing recon and it would compromise her mission?" Jason guessed.

"Maybe, but that doesn't explain her crying when Dick found her the first time." Tim pointed out.

"She could be forced into doing-" Dick waved with his hands as he tried to look for a word- "whatever it is that she's been doing."

No one in the Batcave seemed happy about the lack of information, least of all Bruce and Damian.

Bruce's eyes were furrowed in thought as he contemplated their next course of action. They could just ignore the girl. She hadn't actually done anything to harm anyone, as far as he could tell, but it was worrying that she didn't trust the vigilantes. Her fighting experience also set off warning bells in his head, and that her immediate reaction to being surrounded was to attack.

He let out a tired sigh.

"Tim, see if you can find her on any cameras. The rest of you, keep your eyes open. If you see her, get her. We need to know who she is."

"She'll be a little hard to track," Tim said as he turned his attention to the computer. "We couldn't see much of her face. She covers the bottom half with a mask, and she wore a hood tonight. We only really got a look at her eyes."

Bruce just sent Tim a look that said everything he didn't say out loud. He didn't care. He wanted results. Tim couldn't see the look that Bruce sent his way, but he knew it was there. It wouldn't be the first time Tim pointed out a possible flaw in Bruce's plans were Bruce didn't care about the details.

Sometimes, it was hard being the smartest Wayne in the household.


	4. Going to a home

The mid-November air was biting, and Marinette pulled her jacket tighter around herself, suppressing a shutter. When she woke up that morning, she hardly let herself focus on the cold weather, instead leaving the apartment as soon as she was ready. She wasn't sure what she was looking for, she just knew she was looking. When she came back to the cold and abandoned apartment the night before, she had hardly slept a wink. She was so worried that the vigilantes would come and find her. Find her and...

Lost in thought, Marinette kept her head down, not looking at where she was going. She was brought back to reality however as she walked straight into someone's chest, sending her tumbling to the ground.

"I'm so sorry Mis- Marinette?" Marinette looked up to be met with the surprised and excited eyes of the cute boy she had met only the day before, Jon.

"Jon!" She took his offered hand and rose, dusting herself off once she was up on her feet.

"We really shouldn't meet like this," He said jokingly, and Marinette felt the tension she had felt in her shoulders since the night before, slowly ease. "Looking for another art store?"

"A person, actually, but close enough," Marinette said. "I've been looking for him since I arrived in Gotham but..." She shrugged, smiling, though it looked more like a grimace. "I'm not exactly a detective."

Jon raised an eyebrow at her questioningly.

"Someone I might know?"

Probably not, Marinette thought. The chances of it were low, but wouldn't it have been wonderful if he did?

"Maybe. You wouldn't happen to know where one Alfred Pennyworth might live, would you?"

Jon's eyes widened, and Marinette almost took a step back as she realized that yes, Jon did know Alfred Pennyworth.

"He works for my friend Damian!" Jon said with a growing smile, before his eyes furrowed in confusion. "But why do you need to find him?"

Internal panic settled into Marinette as she realized she didn't exactly have a proper explanation for it. Maybe a partial truth could cover for it though.

"My grandfather!" Marinette quickly said. "He um, he was close with Alfred but um, he passed away. He asked me to find Alfred and tell him in person before he died. They hadn't seen each other in a long time, so..."

Jon nodded in understanding.

"I can show you where they live if you want...?" Jon asked hesitantly.

"That would be amazing!" Marinette was just about to accept the offer when she felt Tikki kick her, from the pocket inside of her jacket. Marinette was going to ignore at first, but then Tikki kicked her again, trying to remind Marinette of what she had told Jon the day before. When it finally hit her, or when Tikki finally kicked her hard enough, Marinette rushed out her next sentence, hardly believing herself as the words tumbled out of her mouth. "But I do believe I promised to go out for coffee if we met again?"

Jon's eyes lit up, and Marinette felt a calm warmth spread in her chest at the sight. Though she would have a serious talk with Tikki once she got the chance.

"Yeah! Uh, I know a place nearby that we can go to," Jon said with a blinding smile, offering his arm to her.

Marinette, almost hesitantly, took it and fell into step beside him. Maybe that serious conversation with Tikki could wait a bit. Besides, Marinette had gotten one step closer to finding Alfred. Now all she had to do was get the address from Jon.

Maybe allowing herself small pleasures every once in a while wouldn't be too bad.

* * *

Jon really hadn't expected to meet Marinette again so soon, or that she would be looking for Alfred of all people.

Jon had just been heading home from the Waynes when Marinette had walked into him. He had been thinking about the mystery girl that the bat family had been running into for the last two nights. The only ones to have actually seen her had been Dick, Tim, and Jason, and the descriptions of the girl that they had given were sparse.

He was glad to have run into Marinette again though. Maybe it was fate! If only he could be that lucky, he thought, looking at the girl across the table from him. She was drawing, trying to design something for him apparently.

She would stick her tongue out at times in concentration, or scrunch up her nose in thought, in the most adorable way. Marinette didn't say much about her past though. When she talked about her parents, she kept it vague. He wasn't even sure if she still lived with her parents!

"New haircut?" Jon asked, pointing at her hair.

Marinette looked up, before smiling sheepishly, her eyes disappearing a bit behind her cheeks.

"Yeah, it uh, it was only supposed to be a trim but..." She reached up and touched the short locks, combing her fingers through what Jon could only imagine was hair silky smooth. "A bob cut works too, right?"

The ribbons she had in her hair previously to tie it up in pigtails, were now used to tie it up in a half-do. The hair that had previously gone past her shoulders now settled a little past her jaw.

"Are you from Gotham?" Marinette asked suddenly, her nose still pointed down to her sketchbook, though she did momentarily look up.

"Ah, no, but my best friend is! You know, Damian. He can be a bit prickly at times. I was actually on my way to meet him when I ran into you yesterday! I was twenty minutes late, but I like to think it was worth it," Jon said with a fond smile.

Marinette looked up, color dusting her cheeks, before she snapped her head down again, making Jon feel a swell of pride.

"I-I hope you didn't get into too much trouble," Marinette said softly. "I wouldn't want you to get in trouble just because you were helping me."

"Nah, nothing too bad," Jon said, waving his hand in dismissal. "And like I said, totally worth it."

Marinette beamed at him.

"My friends know me for always being late," Marinette said, her eyes becoming distant with a somber fondness. "I would always be late for class. I have a tendency to sleep in a lot."

She didn't look at him when she spoke, instead looking out the window before looking back on the page she had been drawing on. She refused to tell him what it was she was designing, telling him it would have to be a surprise.

"At this point, it would be unusual if I showed up on time. My teacher doesn't really mind too much, luckily," Marinette chuckled, but it sounded bittersweet to Jon's ears.

* * *

Marinette ended up having to find Alfred's place on her own. Jon would have walked her there, but his dad called, apparently needing him back home. So, Jon wrote down instructions on how to get there as safe as possible, something Marinette greatly appreciated after having seen some of the worst parts of Gotham.

The city could be pretty, Marinette gave it that. With it's shining lights and skyscrapers, it was a beautiful sight at night. But it couldn't compare to Paris, in Marinette's eyes. Gotham was more gritty and rough, while Paris was softer around its edges. Compared to Paris, Gotham would be thorns to Paris's rose.

That was how Marinette saw it anyways.

"Do you think Alfred will mind me just showing up at the door like this?" Marinette asked Tikki in concern. She knew some people would find it impolite, but she also didn't really have any other option, and she wanted to get this over with as soon as possible, so she could focus on rebuilding the rest of the order.

"As soon as you tell him you were sent by Master Fu, he'll understand," Tikki said in reassurance. "He will know that you are here on behalf of the order. The fact that it isn't Master Fu himself should tell Alfred that this is urgent, and if not, you'll just have to explain that it is."

Marinette let out a shaky breath as she thought about everything that could go wrong.

After talking with Jon and getting the name of the family Alfred worked for, Marinette had gone to the local library to look up more about them, and what she found intimidated her.

Wayne Enterprises was a conglomerate company run by Bruce Wayne, who also ran the Wayne Foundation. It was big and successful, that much was obvious, and apparently has a long history and origins. Marinette wondered where in all of this Alfred fit in as a butler, when he had been hired by the family.

Master Fu hadn't said much about what Alfred did, only that he used to be holder of the peacock miraculous.

What if Alfred told them about the miraculous? What if he refused to join the order because he needed to focus on the Waynes? What if the Waynes found out and tried to get the miraculous for themselves?

Panic rose with every passing thought, and Marinette had to stop for a moment and take a breath.

Things would be fine, she was Marinette, she had defeated the likes of Lila and Hawkmoth, one former Miraculous holder should be nothing!

When her eyes landed on Wayne manor however, Marinette choked on her breath.

The place was huge!

Where the Agreste mansion had been sleek and modern, the Wayne manor was victorian in style. Old looking and intimidating, with its dark exterior. The urge to just turn around and contact Alfred another way was tempting, but the want to leave Gotham and find a proper place to stay overpowered that. She was starting to get tired of sleeping in that abandoned apartment.

The crunching of gravel under her feet felt loud in her own ears, and with every passing step it was becoming harder and harder for Marinette to breathe. The doors seemed so far away, the aura of the area felt cold and wrong. She walked up the steps, the pounding of her heart becoming louder and louder, until finally, it became white noise as she stood at the doors, hand raised. Marinette sucked in a breath.

And she knocked.

* * *

It was a calm day at the manor, all things considered.

Alfred knew that everyone was operating on high stress after the mystery girl from the night before had gotten away. Understandably so, it wasn't good if they didn't fully know a threat, but they also weren't sure if the girl was even a threat to begin with.

Alfred had been on edge for a little while too. He didn't know what it was, but he felt a shift around two weeks ago. Like something fundamentally changed in the world and that it would never go back again.

He placed a hand on his chest where the broach used to be.

Alfred hadn't heard from Fu or the order in so long. He didn't know how Duusu was doing, he didn't know whether Fu was still alive.

It worried him how silent Fu had been the last couple of years. Alfred wasn't part of the order, but he was close to the Guardian, and Fu liked to keep him in the loop on what had been going on. But now, it felt as if four years had gone by without a word from his friend.

Alfred could only hope that nothing happened to the miraculous or the Guardian. The destruction that could happen upon the world was unimaginable.

Maybe Alfred would try and contact Fu later, if he got the chance. Alfred also needed to make sure master Tim went to bed at some point, he noted to himself, thinking of when he last saw the young CEO. As far as Alfred was aware, the young master had yet to leave the Batcave and head to bed since the night before.

He looked at the time. Four in the afternoon.

Alfred set aside what he had been doing, intent on giving master Tim a stern talking to about proper sleep schedules again, when there was a knock at the front door.

Peculiar. Alfred was unaware of any visits today. Did Jon forget something after his visit with Damian?

All sorts of possibilities flew through Alfred's mind as he made his way to the front door, yet none of the possibilities seemed to prepare him for the sight he got once he opened.

"Alfred Pennyworth?" A girl hesitantly asked, taking a small step forward.

She was short, no taller than 4'11" Alfred guessed. Her hair was short and done up in a half-do, she wore a black and red letterman jacket. She fidgeted with her hands, her eyes darting around before finally settling on him.

"I'm here on behalf of Master Fu."


	5. Talks in a home

"Are you Alfred Pennyworth?" The girl's voice was soft, hesitant. "I'm here on behalf of Master Fu."

A sinking feeling rooted itself in Alfred's stomach at the severity of what this visit could mean. Stones dropping as he wondered why his friend wasn't there himself. Rather than voicing his concerns however, Alfred just opened the door wider and beckoned the girl inside.

He lead her through the halls of the manor, thinking up any possible explanations to give Bruce and the boys. He could gather from the expression of the girl, that this was important, and the lack of Fu's presence confirmed as much.

Miraculous matters would be discussed, he had no doubt about that, but he had no clue what it could be.

Was this tied in to that feeling he had gotten two weeks ago?

Looking back at the young girl behind him, he could only feel worry growing from within him. She was so young. Why was she here in Gotham on her own? Fu wouldn't leave her to find Alfred by herself, would he?

Finally, they reached the room and Alfred opened the door for her, leading her into the kitchen. Wordlessly, he pulled a chair out, asking her to sit, before excusing himself quickly.

As soon as he arrived in the living room again, he was bombarded with questions.

"Who was at the door?"

"Did they leave?"

"Do you know what they wanted?"

Alfred held up his hand to silence the Wayne brothers, sans Tim, looking at them patiently.

"I am afraid that I cannot tell you," The sounds of their questions grew louder, and Alfred could feel his patience slip. Normally he would be more composed, but whatever the girl had come to talk to him about was important, and he didn't like leaving her alone in the kitchen for too long. "I will explain what I can when I'm done, but for now, please stay away from the kitchen."

With that, Alfred gave the family a final bow, walking back to the young miss in the kitchen. When he stepped inside, he saw her fiddling with something, but didn't get the chance to see what, as she snapped to attention by his entering. She sagged in relief and smiled at him tiredly.

"I'm sorry for the wait miss, I had to take care of some things for a moment." Alfred started preparing tea, glancing back at her before focusing on what he was doing.

"Of course, I understand. Thank you for talking with me," The girl said, bowing politely from her seat.

There was silence as Alfred finished making the tea, before he sat down in front of her, placing two warm cups of jasmine tea down for them.

"I'm Marinette, by the way," She said in haste, probably realizing she had yet to introduce herself.

"It's wonderful to meet you miss Marinette," Alfred said. "You said you were here on behalf of Wang Fu?"

The girl, Marinette, nodded, looking down with somber eyes.

"He passed away six days ago," She said quietly, Alfred looking down as he took in the information that he had feared. "I'm the new Guardian of the Miraculous."

Silence overtook the kitchen for a few moments as Alfred processed.

"I take it you are not here to simply discuss a fellow friend?" Alfred asked, Marinette shaking her head with a serious expression. "I thought as much," He said with a sigh.

She looked apologetic for a moment, biting her lip in hesitance. It seemed she was about to speak up, opening her mouth, but she closed it again and her eyes furrowed. Alfred was about to ask what was wrong as realization dawned in her eyes, and she held up a hand to stop him from talking.

She looked at him, her expression unreadable as she mouthed words at him.

'They're listening at the door.'

Alfred's eyes widened before he quickly rose, walked towards the kitchen door and opened it, blocking Marinette from the view of Jason, Dick, and Tim, who must have gotten up from the Batcave.

"H-hey Alfred! Didn't know you were here..." Tim tried futily, Alfred just raising an unimpressed brow.

"I do believe I instructed you to stay away from the kitchen," His expression hardened as Jason tried to look inside, and Alfred promptly stepped out, closing the door behind him. "Leave."

Tim and Dick were quick to listen, and forcefully pulled Jason away from the door before he got them into any more trouble.

Alfred let out a tired sigh, before opening the door and returning to Marinette.

She smiled at him sympathetically as he sat down in front of her, and Alfred could see that she had calmed down considerably compared to when she arrived.

"So," Alfred started. "Where were we?"

Marinette seemed to consider her words before she spoke, swirling the tea in her hands in thought, brows furrowed. Giving herself what seemed to be a determined nod, Marinette looked up at him again, set her tea aside and pulled something out from her pocket.

"Per request of Master Fu and as the new Guardian of the Miraculous, I ask you to be part of the new order," Marinette bowed deeply, raising up her hands with what seemed to be an amulet resting in her palms. "Help me rebuild the Order," She said, and her voice took on a pleading tone. "Please."

Alfred looked at the girl in sympathy. She was alone with one of the biggest responsibilities in the world, and she didn't even seem that old.

"Please rise, miss Marinette. It's usually me who bows around here," Marinette rose, but her eyes were furrowed. He hadn't taken the amulet. "Tell me, how old are you, miss Marinette?"

She seemed taken aback by the question, but she answered him nonetheless.

"I'm seventeen..."

"For how many years have you been training to take over as guardian?"

Her brows furrowed.

"Around four years...?"

Alfred mulled over her answers. She was too young to carry the weight of the world on her shoulders alone.

"Then it would be me an honor to become part of the new order," Alfred said, and he saw how her eyes lit up with joy. "I would like you to meet my family as well," Alfred immediately noticed her hesitance.

"I don't know about that Alfred. I've done what I came here to do," Marinette said, confusion ringing clear in her voice.

"Miss Marinette, what do you plan on doing once you leave?"

Marinette shrunk in on herself, not looking Alfred in the eye.

"I don't know..." She whispered.

Alfred sighed.

"I will accept the amulet after you have met them," Alfred stated, cutting Marinette off before she even got the chance to open her mouth. "And after you have taken a shower. You don't exactly smell of roses, miss Marinette."

The young miss seemed to take offense to that.

"I haven't exactly been staying somewhere with running water, you know," She grumbled, crossing her arms. Alfred narrowed his eyes at her, worry forming in his chest.

"Where exactly have you been staying, miss Marinette?" Her eyes darted around, refusing to look him in the eye.

"You don't have to call me miss..." She said instead of answering him.

"Marinette," His tone was hard.

"An abandoned apartment, in Gotham Village," She shrunk in on herself again, shoulders rising. "I don't exactly have any legal documents."

Alfred was torn between prying more information out of her, and simply offering help.

He chose the latter.

"I will help with the documents and you will stay here until then. Understood?" Alfred could tell that she was about to protest, but when he raised an eyebrow at her, she simply sighed.

"Only until we have my documents figured out," She mumbled out, but Alfred took that as a victory nonetheless.

"Alfred's keeping secrets," Jason pouted, slumped in his seat with his arms crossed.

"Well, what did you expect?" Damian asked with a raised brow. "He told us to stay away from the kitchen."

The other boys didn't listen, focusing instead on sulking and wondering what was going on.

"Do you think he's quitting?" Jason wondered aloud.

"Alfred wouldn't quit," Dick said with a shake of his head, voice firm and resolute.

"Think it's a family member?" Tim asked.

"He would tell us if it was family matters, besides, does he even have any family outside of us?" Dick questioned.

The group fell silent again.

"This is very out of character for Alfred," Jason said, being the first to break the silence. "He's usually not this mysterious, is he?"

"He seemed distressed when he told us to stay away from the kitchen," Added Tim

"And angry when he caught us snooping. He normally doesn't get angry," Voiced in Dick.

The trio nodded to each other, Damian watching the conversation perplexed. It was like the group just shared one brain-cell at times.

Bruce walked into the room, and upon sight of his three eldest sons, immediately understood what was going on.

"They tried listening in on the kitchen, didn't they?" Bruce asked Damian as he sat down in his favorite chair with a book. Damian just nodded his head, and Bruce sighed tiredly. "Alfred already told us that he would explain as much as he could when he was done."

"Well yeah but-"

Bruce cut Jason off.

"No buts. We will respect Alfred and his privacy in what is clearly something important.  _ He will tell us what he can.  _ Understood?" Bruce's voice left no room for argument, and Tim, Dick, and Jason were quick to start sulking again.

The living room was left in silence after that, Bruce reading his book, Jason playing a game on his phone against Dick, Tim reading an article, and Damian studying. The quiet atmosphere was broken however, by the sound of approaching footsteps and the living room door opening.

"If I could kindly get your attention?" Alfred spoke, and immediately all eyes were on him, before traveling to the petite girl standing beside him. "I would like to introduce you to Marinette. She's the granddaughter of one of my dear friends, who passed away recently."

A pin could be heard drop as Dick stared at the girl wide-eyed, recognition burning within him.

"Master Bruce, if it is okay with you, I would like for Marinette to stay for a while. I do not feel it is very responsible of me to leave her alone in Gotham," Bruce tried to see if he could find answers in Alfred's eyes, but all he saw was a look that said Alfred would explain later.

Bruce smiled at the young girl, noting how she seemed to hold herself like he was about to throw her out.

"Of course," He simply said, nodding politely at the girl. "She can stay for as long as she needs."

It seemed as if the boys would protest, but the swift glare Bruce sent their way shut them up.

"I'll be showing her to a room then," Alfred said with a bow, before heading to the door, Marinette following him, looking a bit like a lost puppy.

"Are you sure this is a good idea?" Marinette asked hesitantly.

It wasn't that she didn't appreciate the offer. In all honesty, the thought of not having to return to that awful apartment was a relief to Marinette. However, she didn't like this. It felt like she was intruding.

Then, of course, there was her certainty that the family was made up of the very same vigilantes she had run from. The reason she knew who they were wasn’t obvious. In truth, she would probably be the only person to pick up on it.

It was the corrupted magic in the boy with the white hairstreak that gave it away. It was the same magic she had felt in Red Hood the night before. She was unsure of what the magic actually was, but it felt familiar to her, like the Miraculous Cure, but perverted in some way. Asking Alfred about it seemed inappropriate though.

"I will not inform them of the Miraculous or the Order, I understand that it has to remain hidden. If anyone reveals anything about it, it will be you," Alfred stated, trying to reassure her. Marinette just sighed.

They continued their walk in silence, Alfred because he had nothing to add, and Marinette because of uncertainty.

"This will be where you are staying," Alfred said, opening one of many doors, leading her into a room that was larger than the one she had back home. "I will bring you some clothes that I think might fit you, the bathroom is to your left, just come back down to the living room once you are done."

With that, Alfred left, leaving Marinette alone in the rather extravagant room. The walls were a cream color, the doors made of dark wood in contrast. The bed was queen-sized and centered against the right wall, and tall windows took up the back wall, allowing the light of the setting sun to enter the room. Marinette put her backpack down on the bed, feeling the silk covers with her fingers, marveling at the fabric quality. A desk made of dark wood was placed at the left wall, along with a shelf filled with books, as well as a door that lead to what Marinette could only assume was a bathroom.

"Well, you heard what Alfred said Marinette, time for you to shower," Marinette jumped, startled by the sound of Tikki's voice behind her. She hadn't even noticed her kwami fly out of her jacket.

"Geez, don't scare me like that Tikki," Marinette sighed, taking her jacket off and folding it on the bed. "And don't think I've forgotten what you did when I ran into Jon again," She scolded, wagering her finger in her kwami's face. Tikki just rolled her eyes.

"Oh, don't act like you didn't enjoy your date," Tikki said fondly, causing Marinette to stutter a response that was interrupted by a knock at her door.

"Marinette? I believe I have clothes that will fit you," Came Alfred's muffled voice. Marinette opened the door, accepting the clothes from Alfred. "I will retrieve your own clothes to be washed once you're done," He simply stated, before giving her final nod of his head and leaving, Marinette looking at his retreating form.

With a sigh, she closed the door and locked it, before returning her attention to Tikki and giving her kwami a playful glare.

"We're not done with this argument."

"Whatever you say Marinette."

Marinette rolled her eyes and headed to the bathroom to shower for the first time since she arrived in Gotham.

It was quiet in the living room as the Waynes watched Alfred and Marinette leave. No one really knew what to say.

Dick was the one to break the silence.

"That's her," He said, voice small and confused. "That's the girl from yesterday."

Bruce furrowed his brows as he looked at his eldest son.

"Are you sure?" Bruce asked. "You said you didn't get a good look at her face."

"I'm sure," Dick nodded his head, eyes still fixated at the door. "The jacket's the same, though her hair is shorter than when I first saw her."

Bruce shook his head. These things seemed more circumstantial than anything.

"How can you be so sure then?" Damian questioned. He hadn't seen the girl himself in person, but Marinette was tiny, and from the brief exchange they just had with the girl, she seemed way too meek to be the one able to beat the vigilantes.

"It makes sense. Alfred says she's alone in Gotham, all of her clothes are exactly the same. Even her backpack's the same!" Dick exclaimed, Tim nodding along.

"I actually think Dick is right about this. I only got a glimpse of her eyes, but I was the one who actually fought her. That's the girl."

It seemed that Bruce was more willing to listen after Tim's input, and suddenly wondered if it had been a good idea to let the girl stay in his home. He sighed.

"Regardless of that, it seems Alfred knows her, or at least knows of her. He'll explain the situation once he gets her situated."

Damian's face scrunched up in disdain at the reminder that the girl would apparently be staying with them, almost like he had bitten a lemon.

"Why did you even agree to that?" Damian asked, looking at Bruce with furrowed eyes. "We don't even know her, and now you're letting her stay in our home? Isn't that kind of risky?"

Bruce shook his head. Alfred seemed to trust her, and even if he decided that it was too dangerous to allow her to stay, he had already agreed.

"I trust Alfred's judgment. If he starts to believe the girl is a threat, we'll take things from there, but for now, she's a guest and I want you to treat her as such," The look Bruce sent his sons made them stop complaining.

When Alfred returned, so did chaos, as the room exploded with questions once more.

"Who is she?" Bruce asked, voice cutting through the rest, effectively shutting his sons up.

"Like I told you before, Marinette is the granddaughter of a dear friend of mine who has recently passed away," Bruce could tell there was more to it than that, but Alfred didn't say, sticking with the original story. "As far as I know, she's been looking for me for the last five days."

"What was she doing up on the roofs?" Jason asked, raising a brow. "Not exactly where I would look for a person."

"I don't know," Alfred admitted. "But she's not a threat. I still have some things to discuss with her, and I would like to keep her close until we are done."

Bruce didn't seem too happy about the lack of information, but if what Alfred said was true, then he would be fine having the girl stay at least a couple of days.


	6. Dinner at home

When Marinette came back downstairs, it was time for dinner. She had put on the clothes Alfred had given her, though he did raise an eyebrow at how she wore it.

He had given her a button-down, probably one of his own, as well as a pair of slacks. The button-down had been way too big on her, continuing to slip down her shoulders. So, being the little creative that Marinette was, she just undid a few buttons so that the neckline was big enough to fit around her chest, pulled her arms out of the sleeves and tied the sleeves behind her back like a bow so the shirt couldn't fall off. The slacks, which Marinette could only assume had once been owned by the sons, were too big at her waist. For that, Marinette just asked Alfred for a belt, rolled up the pant legs, and wore it high-waisted.

Bruce and the sons seemed surprised by it too, but Marinette chose to ignore it and pretend she didn't notice.

When everyone was seated around the dinner table, the atmosphere became tense and awkward, and even if Marinette knew it was incredibly rude, she wished she could have just eaten in her room or in the kitchen. It was almost suffocating to sit there, with the questioning eyes of the Wayne sons looking at her.

"So," Bruce seemed to be the first to try and fix the atmosphere. "Where are you from, Marinette?"

Marinette snapped her head up, looking at Bruce with wide-eyes before looking anywhere but at him.

"I'm uh, I'm from Paris," She said meekly, cringing inwardly at the sound. "This is my first time in Gotham."

"It's a beautiful city," Bruce said in a futile attempt to get her to say more. Marinette just nodded.

Awkward silence filled the room again, and Marinette could only wish for the world to swallow her whole. This was becoming more and more of a disaster by the minute, and she had the feeling she would be lucky if she didn't get kicked out by the end of the night.

"Have you taken any self-defense lessons before?" Marinette sharply turned her head in the direction of the voice, Jason if Marinette remembered their introductions correctly, barely noticing the slight wince he had on his face, which quickly disappeared.

Awkwardly, Marinette coughed.

"Umm, my grandpa taught me a few things, I guess..." She trailed off, not being able to say anything else about it.

"What do your parents do?" Bruce asked.

At this question, Marinette outwardly winced, which caught the attention of everyone at the table.

"They... they were bakers," She whispered.

A heavy silence took over the table. No one said a word, and Marinette tried to desperately hold back tears, stubbornly keeping her head down. 

After a few more minutes of unbearable silence, Marinette rose from her seat, nodding to Alfred. "The food was wonderful, but I think I'm gonna head to bed now," She bowed to Bruce, not wanting to look at him. "Thank you for having me, and thank you for the food."

With that, Marinette headed back to her temporary room.

* * *

The room was silent after Marinette left.

Alfred seemed to look at the entire family in disappointment, save for Bruce who had seemed to make a genuine effort in making the girl feel comfortable. The rest, however, were more disappointing, specifically Jason.

"What was that?" Bruce asked after the silence had become suffocating. He looked at Jason in particular, referring to the question about self-defense.

"Wha- me?! You were the one to ask her about her parents!" Jason accused.

"I didn't know," Bruce defended.

"Aren't you the one to tell us that ignorance isn't an excuse?" Jason threw back, and Bruce flustered.

"Enough," Alfred cut them off before things could get more out of hand. A fight between the family would not help the situation. "I expect you to treat Marinette better come tomorrow. From what I've deduced, she has just lost the last of her family, you interrogating her won't help the situation."

They looked down at the table in shame, all save for Damian, who simply scoffed and turned up his nose.

"None of us even know the girl personally," Damian said. "Why should we trust her?"

Alfred let out a sigh. He had expected the youngest Wayne to be against the young Marinette staying, he just had hope that he would keep the hostility back until they had gotten to know her more.

"I don't expect you to trust her, I expect you to respect her, like you would any other guest," said Alfred.

"Uh, since when did Baby Bird respect anyone?" Jason asked, receiving a swift glare from the boy in question. Bruce let out a tired sigh.

"Just don't drive her away until she and Alfred have done what they have to," Bruce said. "It worries me that she's here in Gotham alone, even if she is the girl you've run into."

It was the lack of answers and information that bugged the family the most. It was one thing to let someone stay over, it was another thing if that person was a stranger that they knew nothing about.

"Tim, look into the girl. We know more about her now, you should be able to find something," Bruce paused, probably expecting Alfred to protest, but when he didn't, Bruce continued. "Dick, I want you to get as much information out of her as you can without her getting suspicious," Bruce turned his attention to Jason and Damian, who still seemed to be arguing. "And you two," They looked at Bruce, having clearly not listened to what was said before. "Try not to scare her away."

Jason and Damian shared a look before looking back at Bruce.

"Not making any promises," They said in unison. 

* * *

_ "I'm sorry Bugaboo..." Chat said, walking over to Hawkmoth, to Gabriel Agreste. "But I want my mother back." _

_ "Chat, no!" Ladybug yelled as Chat nodded to his father, before turning and leveling a glare at the red-clad heroine. _

_ "Good, Adrien," Gabriel said, and for the first time since Marinette had met the man, he smiled proudly at his son. "Now we just need Ladybug's earrings." _

_ The eyes of Chat Noir, Hawkmoth, and Mayura all turned to her. _

Marinette woke with a start, her breathing heavy and her sight blurry. The world was going in and out of focus and her breathing became more and more uncontrolled and erratic. Marinette tried to focus, rubbing her fingers against the silky covers to ground herself.

Seven seconds in, eleven seconds out.

In.

Out.

In.

Out.

When her breathing was controlled, she let out a tired sigh, collapsing in the bed. Tikki was fast asleep on the pillow beside her, though her expression was tight. Marinette reached her hand down, trying to smooth out Tikki's concerned expression.

She looked at the clock on the nightstand. Three AM.

Alfred had said that she was welcome to go into the kitchen at any time, and at the moment, a cup of tea sounded lovely.

Slowly and quietly, she made her way out of the bed, shivering as the cold air hit her skin, biting her bare shoulders. Alfred had found a tank top and some pants she could use for sleep. Wrapping her hair ribbons around her wrist, Marinette unlocked her door, and started trekking down the halls towards the kitchen.

She was glad to say that the manor was a lot less scary inside than it was outside. Warmer, but maybe that was because of the family that lived here. She didn't really get a good chance to gauge how close the family actually was.

When she arrived in the kitchen, she realized that she had no idea where any of the mugs were and let out a sigh, before filling and turning on the kettle.

Marinette started to look through the different cabinets until she finally found the mugs, letting out a small and quiet woohoo in victory. When she closed the cabinet, she was met with the curious eyes of... Tim? Was his name Tim? She almost dropped the mug by the sight of a person suddenly there.

When she realized it was only one of the family members, she relaxed a little, but she remained tense as his eyes stayed on her.

"I, uh, I couldn't sleep," She spoke up, voice quiet. "I thought I'd make some tea."

Tim nodded, before walking behind her and getting a mug himself. He looked tired, even to Marinette, and she didn't even know the man.

Instead of staring like a creep, Marinette snapped out of her thoughts and looked for the tea, trying to remember which cabinet Alfred had opened when they were in the kitchen earlier. When she found it, she let out another victory hum, before she remembered that Tim was there.

Her head snapped in his direction, and much to her dismay, he looked amused. Choosing to ignore him, she focused on making her tea instead, faintly noting that Tim was making coffee at three in the morning.

Deciding that she would drink the tea in the kitchen before heading to bed, Marinette sat down, not looking in Tim's direction. The sound of the chair opposite hers made Marinette look up, and she was surprised to see Tim looking at her questioningly.

"Mind if I take a seat?" Rather than giving him a no, Marinette just shook her head, not wanting to speak.

They sat in silence, but it was a surprisingly comfortable silence compared to what Marinette had expected to happen, which was a remake of the earlier dinner.

"I'm sorry, by the way. About dinner," Tim said apologetically, as if reading her mind, and Marinette could hardly believe her ears.

"Wh- no, no, there's nothing to apologize for, I'm a stranger who's kind of intruding on your home, and you don't know me, or why I'm here and-"

"Hey," He cut her off before Marinette could spiral more and more into her rambling. "It's fine. You probably didn't expect to stay here either, did you?"

She shook her again.

It was quiet again after that, Tim taking out a laptop and started typing away, Marinette letting the clacking seep into the background as she sketched, occasionally looking up at Tim when he would let out an annoyed grumble.

"You look tired," She noted faintly after having looked up again, finally noticing the black bags under his eyes.

"That's because I am," He replied. "But I need to figure this out."

Marinette let out a hum of understanding, before going back to sketching.

There were times where being tired simply wasn't an excuse to not finish something. But, she thought as she looked at him through her eyelashes, working the way that he was, could end up having consequences. Knowing that she could possibly be stepping way out of line, Marinette took in a deep breath before opening her mouth to speak again.

"But is doing what you're doing now any better?" She asked. "You don't even seem aware of your surroundings anymore. Whatever you do end up figuring out will probably not make sense to you once the sun is rising. It will essentially be worthless."

She thought back to akumas that she had fought while on the brink of sleep, how it took her much longer than normal to beat them, how a lot more civilians got needlessly hurt because of it.

"You can't take care of anything if you don't take care of yourself first."

Marinette didn't stay behind to see his reaction, just politely bowed to him before picking up her sketchbook and pencil, heading back to her room.


	7. Musings at home

The following morning was nice in Marinette's opinion. Not that she got much sleep, but the atmosphere was a little less tense between her and the family. Or well, at least between her and Tim.

The rest of them still seemed to look at her like some type of mystery, which she probably was to them. Marinette had no doubt in her mind that they must have made the connection between her and the rooftop girl, but that probably only served to make her more uncomfortable.

Still, breakfast felt less stifled than the dinner had, and Marinette couldn't help but relax, if not just slightly.

Of course, she didn't let her guard down, not in a million years, but she let some of the tension leave her shoulders. Perhaps that's what sleeping in a proper bed does to you.

Tim seemed more well-rested than the night before, though Marinette didn't know the man enough to properly comment on that either. She did notice Jason looking at his brother weirdly however, so she assumed something was up.

Everyone had something to do today, save for Marinette. Bruce, Tim, and Dick had work, Jason said something about meeting some people, so that left Marinette alone with Damian until he had to leave for school.

Between everyone in the family, it was probably Damian Marinette was the most tense with. Marinette wouldn't assume why, she didn't know the boy, had hardly spoken a word to him, but she couldn't deny that it was unbearably uncomfortable to be in the same room as him, especially since he was looking at her as if she was some freak of nature.

"So where do you go to school?" Damian asked suddenly, pulling Marinette out of her thoughts.

"Huh?"

He rolled his eyes as if she was an idiot, which she might have been, in his eyes at least.

"I asked about where you go to school?"

Marinette wasn't sure how to react, though she did see Alfred perk up at the question from the corner of her eye.

However, Marinette wasn't quite sure what to tell him about school. She didn't exactly have any school records, and she had no doubt in her mind that they would try to look for her, if they hadn't already.

"I've been... taking a break with my education. Some things came up back home," He didn't seem satisfied by her answer, but Marinette didn't elaborate.

"And what about now?" He asked instead.

"What do you mean?" Marinette asked confused.

"Are you planning on going back to school?" He sounded like he was trying to explain it to a toddler, and Marinette felt slightly offended at the tone, though she didn't comment.

She did think about his question however.

Would she ever return to school? Not Dupont, obviously she couldn't do that, but would she pick up her education again?

"I don't know," Said the girl honestly, even if she hadn't meant to say it out loud.

Damian looked at her, expression unreadable, before shrugging and picking up his backpack. Marinette didn't pay him too much mind, aware that he probably wasn't too happy about the stranger in his house.

Marinette let out a tired but relieved sigh as she heard the door close behind Damian and Alfred as they left.

"It's going to be a long couple of days," Marinette said to Tikki, who flew out the moment the door closed.

"It's going to be alright Marinette, you always figure something out."

Marinette's mind flashed to Paris and she nodded.

"Yeah..."

* * *

Alfred hadn't meant to overhear Marinette and Damian's conversation, though it would be a lie if he said that he didn't appreciate the information that it provided him.

Now he and Marinette were once again seated in the kitchen. There were things to discuss, plans to make, and for Alfred, he needed her full name to start helping her with papers.

"Marinette Wang," She told him.

He looked at her questioningly. He knew she wasn't actually Fu's granddaughter, as nice as it would have been if his old friend had gotten a family. It seemed Marinette understood the question in his eyes, flushing slightly and looking down at her teacup.

"In his memory," She explained. "Plus, I can't use my old surname so..." She shrugged. "He's the closest to family I could get."

It perplexed Alfred slightly. He didn't know Marinette's history, and he highly doubted that she was going to open up about it herself, but what caused all of this to even be necessary in the first place?

"I don't want to talk about it," Marinette said, seemingly reading his mind. "Maybe someday."

Alfred looked at her for a moment before nodding. He couldn't, or rather shouldn't, push her too hard for information. Even if Fu trusted him, that didn't mean that this girl did. Still...

"Marinette, may I ask you a slightly personal question?" Alfred asked, receiving a hesitant nod from the girl in front of him. "What do you plan to do once I've accepted the Order's amulet?"

Her eyes widened in surprise by the question, before her expression took a contemplative look. It must not have been something she had thought too much about.

"I'm not entirely sure," She admitted. "My first priority will be to find a safer place to stay. I don't think it's a good idea to let the miraculous stay in the crime capital of the world. I think I might go to Tibet and check out the old temple."

Alfred nodded, although on the inside he was frowning. It really seemed Marinette was going to focus the rest of her life on the order and the miraculous. It made Alfred wonder about who she used to be, what her life was like before she met with Fu. He wanted to ask questions that he knew she wouldn't answer, and for the first time in a while, Alfred found something that was frustrating.

"Don't you have any goals and dreams you want to achieve?" Alfred asked before he could stop himself. He noticed her hold on her teacup tightened.

"I just want the order to be rebuilt," She said, voice strained, her eyes refusing to look at him.

"Is that what you want, or what Fu wanted?" Alfred asked.

Marinette didn't answer him.

* * *

"Are you sure about going to Tibet, Marinette?" Tikki asked, voice filled with concern. "Maybe you should give yourself a little break. I know I normally want you to push yourself and focus, but you made a big sacrifice and-"

"It's fine Tikki," Marinette said, a tired smile overtaking her features. "We don't know what's left at the temple, and it's already been so many years. I'm scared someone might have found it by now."

"If someone who wasn't part of the order found it, you would know," Tikki said. She flew up to Marinette's face, cradling her holder's cheeks. "I just don't want you to throw your life away, more than you already have."

Marinette let out a sigh. She knew Tikki had been against her plan since she first thought it up, but to Marinette, her plan had made perfect sense. She was aware of every detail of what she was going to do during the final battle against Hawkmoth.

Of course, she hadn't accounted for Chat Noir betraying her, but with the knowledge of who both Chat Noir and Hawkmoth was, Marinette could almost understand what led him to make that decision.

"It just feels... wrong, to slow down, you know?" Marinette said. "I've been actively fighting Hawkmoth for four years, now that it's over, stopping just feels like wasting time, especially when there's so much to do."

"But Marinette, you have all the time in the world!" Tikki exclaimed, looking at her chosen with furrowed brows. "There is no threat to the miraculous at the moment. I'm not telling you to stop, but maybe you should slow down."

Marinette looked at Tikki with conflicted eyes, an internal battle taking place as she collapsed on her luxurious bed.

"I know you Marinette, and I know that you're head is still elsewhere. Just," Tikki flew down to her chosen, snuggling Marinette's neck. "Let your head catch up with your body, okay?"

Marinette hummed but didn't say anything else. She understood Tikki's concern, but... Marinette didn't want her head to catch up. If she kept moving, kept focusing on everything else, then she wouldn't be confronted with everything she gave up.

Saving Paris came at a price, a price Marinette would pay over and over again if it meant that the city she loved was happy, but she was so lonely. She only had the kwamis with her now. No Chat Noir, no Alya, no parents.

It hurt.

That was the reason why she couldn't slow down, why she had to keep moving. She wasn't ready to face her decision, not yet.

"Are you sure it's not just because it hurts to look at their family?" Tikki asked hesitantly, and Marinette's breath hitched. "You just don't want to see it."

Marinette started shaking her head in denial, but her kwami knew Marinette better than that.

"Just because of what happened doesn't mean you're doomed to a lonely exis-"

"Not now Tikki," Marinette cut Tikki off harshly, before crumbling in on herself. "Just- not now."

* * *

Marinette and Tikki largely didn't speak to each other after their short argument earlier. Marinette suspected Alfred had heard, but he had made no comment throughout the rest of the day, so Marinette shook the feeling off, despite knowing to trust her instincts more.

When it came time for dinner with the rest of the family again, Marinette felt prepared. She and Tim were on better terms now than they had been for the previous dinner, even if they had only held a proper conversation that night.

For the rest of the family? Marinette was hoping to finish dinner as soon as possible and just run back to her room.

It was silent at the dinner table once everyone was seated, but that quickly changed when Jason loudly proclaimed something embarrassing that Dick had done earlier, and just like that, the family fell into what Marinette could only assume was routine. Dick and Jason were arguing, continuously trying to embarrass the other more, while Damian and Tim kept adding fuel to the fire.

Marinette's chest hurt when she looked at them all.

Marinette wanted to deny that any of what Tikki said was true. That of course, sitting at the dinner table at the very moment, she didn't wish she was back in her parents' bakery, back in France, hearing her father make dumb baker puns while her mom calmly chimed in about what had happened while Marinette was at school.

Wistfulness entered her gaze, memories grabbing hold of her mind, and soon, Marinette had spaced out, no longer aware of what was going on at the Wayne dinner table, instead thinking about the warm feeling she got every time her dad would give her a bear hug.

"Marinette."

Reality hit Marinette like a bullet through her chest as Alfred called out to her, and belatedly, she realized she had started to silently cry.

"Oh! Uh- sorry, just, uh-" Awkwardly, she quickly dried her tears and nose, blinking a few times, though unsure if it was because of the tears of the memories. "I uh, I spaced out," Marinette whispered.

The family looked at her with a mix of expressions, ranging from concern to curiosity. Marinette refused to meet anyone's gaze.

"Marinette," She snapped her attention back to Alfred, turning her head in his direction. "What are you going to do once we're done?"

Alfred's question shocked her into silence, her eyes growing wide before she worriedly looked at all the people in the room.

"Alfred, I thought we've already talked about this," She stresses out, trying to read his eyes, to understand his motivation. "If you want to talk about this now, could we maybe take it to a place that’s a bit more private?" Marinette asked while she pointedly looked at the Wayne family.

"No."

Her mouth falls open at his refusal. What was he doing? Was he going to expose the order?

"What are you going to do once we're done, Marinette?"


	8. Arguments at home

"Alfred, I really think we should talk about this somewhere else." There was a warning in Marinette's tone, but Alfred paid it no mind. They needed this conversation, and he knew Marinette would never say anything unless pressured. He would just have to make up for it later.

"I think it's best if we stay here, Marinette," Alfred said, leaving no room to argue with. "What do you plan to do with your future once you leave?"

Marinette looked warily at the Wayne family, trying to see if they had any idea what Alfred was talking about. When she realized that nothing would come of it, she looked back at Alfred.

"You already know what I'm going to do, Alfred."

"I think you should reconsider your decision, Marinette."

Alfred could tell that Marinette was getting frustrated with him, at least if her tightened fists were any indication.

Abruptly, she stood up, not looking at anyone in particular, her chair scraping the floor.

"I'm not doing this." Was all she said, but Alfred knew better than to just let her go like that.

"Sit down, or I won't help you with any legal documents."

Marinette's head snapped up at him, her eyes wide as she read what the real threat was if she didn't get back to her seat.

_ I won't accept the amulet. _

Alfred was aware that what he was doing was cruel, but he would be damned if he let the young girl throw her life away like that. He had seen it happen too many times now.

With gritted teeth, the girl sat back down in her chair, refusing to meet anyone's eyes.

"Marinette," Alfred started. "You're young. The responsibility that has been given to you is far bigger than it should be for someone your age. All I want for you is to have a life that's worth living."

Marinette averted his gaze, picking nervously at her cuticles instead. Must have been some sort of bad habit, Alfred absently thought.

"You're still technically a minor," Alfred said. "Until you reach the age of 18, you will be placed under Master Bruce's custody," Marinette's head snapped up in his direction, eyes wide with disbelief.

"Wha- you can't just do that!" Marinette yelled, getting back on her feet.

"We can and we will," Alfred stated with an air of finality. Marinette opened and closed her mouth, trying to find words to say, to protest. "Bruce and I have already discussed this," Marinette turned her head to see Bruce nod at her.

"But why?" Marinette asked, her voice cracking.

"I have seen one too many children give their lives away Marinette. I want to protect you for as long as I can. You're in no state to do what you plan to do. If going is truly what you want, you can do that once you're 18, but for now, I want you to focus on yourself," Alfred explained.

Marinette didn't respond, not that Alfred expected her too. Instead, she quietly walked out of the dining room, everyone hearing the faint opening and closing of her door.

Tim was the one to break the tense silence.

"So... What just happened?"

* * *

"He's told them, Tikki!" Marinette cried out, throwing her hands in the air. "I told you something like this was going to happen, I told you!"

All of the kwamis looked at their Guardian with worry. She had been pacing the floor for the last fifteen minutes, and it didn't seem like she was stopping any time soon.

"Oh, what am I going to do? I'll have to wipe their memories, but I don't think I'd have any success with Alfred," Marinette worried.

Tikki could understand her chosen's worry. Even if Alfred hadn't revealed what the order was, or what was really his relation with Marinette, the stunt he had pulled in front of the Wayne family would have consequences for Marinette, no doubt about it.

"I can't just _ tell _ them about the order or the miraculous, that would be too risky! Tikki, did I make a mistake in coming here?"

Tikki could tell Marinette was spiraling, and she didn't know what to do to stop it, but she did know what to say.

"You didn't make a mistake Marinette, you followed Master Fu's instructions and you didn't know something like this would happen."

Marinette seemed to think over Tikki's words, her face screwing up in thought, until she finally sighed, her shoulders slumping.

"I guess but... I'm still the Guardian, and it's my responsibility to keep all of you safe," Marinette said, looking at the small gods occupying her room. "But what if I can't do that?"

The kwamis all shared a concerned look, Plagg, Tikki, and Wayzz all flying over to comfort the girl.

"You're a smart girl Marinette, you'll figure something out. We believe in you."

Marinette bit her lip, clearly not believing the words coming from the god of creation.

"Why does it feel like I've failed already then?" Marinette asked, going to sit on her bed, rubbing the silky covers between her fingers. "I'm not giving up!" She quickly added when she saw their worried looks. "I just... I have no one to count on for this, you know?"

Marinette was supposed to be able to trust Alfred, but Tikki knew that after what happened tonight, Marinette would be careful with the information that she relayed to the butler and former holder.

Tikki had hoped that Marinette would open up to Alfred about what really happened in Paris after some time, but with the way things were going, Tikki highly doubted Marinette would ever open up to anyone.

"Even if Alfred won't be someone you can trust completely, you will never be alone," Marinette nodded, but Tikki didn't feel convinced. "...Do you want to talk to anyone? Joan maybe?"

At this, Marinette perked up, before she looked around hesitantly, as if the Wayne family would jump out at any moment.

"Don't worry Marinette, we'll just keep the door locked. If you don't think that's enough, we can go into the bathroom if you want."

Marinette paused, quietly considering her options, before nodding and getting up, locking her bedroom door. The kwamis could warn her if anyone came.

* * *

No one answered Tim's question, which he considered was fair. He didn't exactly have the answer, and he was the smart one in the family.

"Alfred?" Bruce prodded.

This was ridiculous. When Tim had looked for information on Marinette, he had found nothing. Silch! Nada. She was a complete mystery. There were no pictures, no social media, no files. Nothing. She wasn't on any CCTV, not even at the most popular spots in Paris. She just... didn't exist.

Alfred's line of questioning was peculiar too. Why did he care so much about this one girl? What was really going on between those two?

"I cannot tell you," Alfred replied, his face unreadable.

"Alfred."

Alfred didn't respond, just turned his unreadable expression to Bruce, a silent conversation taking place, ending with Bruce sighing and slumping in his seat.

"Can you please just... explain?" Dick asked, already sounding tired and done.

"I'm just afraid that Marinette would be throwing away the best years of her life, dedicated to a cause she is too young to be a part of."

The silence that came attested to the thoughts of the family on the matter.

"I have a feeling she has made choices in her life that she will be forced to live with forever. I simply want to give her a life that is worth living."

"Why can't you just tell us what's really going on?" Dick asked.

"It's not as simple as you may think, Master Dick. If anyone is going to tell you what is truly happening, it will have to be Marinette herself."

The dining room fell silent again as they processed the little information given to them. At least her relation to the butler was a little more cleared, right? At least, that's what Tim thought, even if he didn't actually gain a proper answer to his questions, which he now had a lot more of.

The way Alfred questioned her though... it felt like he was cornering her, forcing her to say things she didn't want to say. It felt like...

"You went out of line," Tim said, and for a moment, he couldn't believe himself. "She clearly wasn't comfortable with what you did. You were the one to tell us to not scare her away, yet that's exactly what you're doing."

At this, Alfred almost seemed to look ashamed. Did he not even realize that what he was doing was wrong?

"Hold on, hold on, hold on. Are we just going to forget that the girl is here illegally for all we know?" Damian asked.

"As if you care about her being here legally, you just want her gone," Jason accused.

Quickly, the family dissolved into fighting, no one sure what to think anymore

* * *

Marinette sat herself down on the floor, crossing her legs and putting her hands together, thumbs connecting, fingers locking, her palms not touching. She started with deep breaths, seven seconds in, eleven seconds out, feeling her heart calm its erratic beating in her chest.

By now, she had done this several times, she had trained with the former Ladybug chosens, so calling for one was not exactly difficult. However, it required a certain amount of peace of mind, something she didn't exactly have at the moment.

With a final exhale, her earrings lit up, and a spirit pushed itself out of her.

"How are you doing, Marinette?" Joan's voice rang clear in the room.

Most of the kwamis had gone back to the box, understanding Marinette needed privacy more than anything, with only Plagg, Tikki, and Wayzz staying, Plagg listening at the door to make sure no one tried to get in.

"I... I don't really know, if I'm honest," Marinette admitted, biting her lip. "I found the person I was searching for, Alfred Pennyworth. He's butler to an influential family here in Gotham."

Joan nodded, though she could see that there was more the young chosen wished to say.

"Is he trustworthy?" Joan asked.

Marinette let out a sigh, slumping slightly. "I don't know," she whispered. "He almost told about the order to his family," Marinette elaborated, seeing the question in the warrior's eyes. "He says I need to focus on myself first, to let myself live without worry before starting to rebuild the order."

Joan looked contemplative for a moment, looking at Marinette with searching eyes.

"And you?" Joan asks.

"Huh?"

"What do you want to do? What do you feel is best for _ yourself?" _

"I... I don't know! Does it even matter at this point?" Marinette asked, her voice cracking at the end.

Joan and Tikki shared a concerned glance as Marinette shrunk in on herself. It wasn't that Marinette didn't want to take care of herself or anything like that, but it just felt selfish now.

"Of course it matters!" Joan cried, looking at Marinette with wide eyes. "You are just as important as the people you wish to protect." Joan sighed, looking deep in thought for a moment before speaking again. "I know what you think, Marinette. I know you are prepared to lay your life down for this. But you deserve more than that. You deserve happiness as much as the people out there do. You're not letting anyone down. You're simply putting yourself first, something you haven't done in a long time."

A second passed, two, before the dam broke and tears rolled down Marinette's cheeks.

She was just so _ tired. _

_ " _I know, Netta, I know," Joan said, pulling the young chosen into her arms, soothingly rubbing her hands up and down Marinette's back. "I know."

* * *

Marinette didn't talk to Alfred for a while, or the rest of the Wayne family for that matter. She avoided going to the kitchen after dark, knowing that Tim would most likely be there, she ate in silence, her response to any questions usually only going so far as one word.

She knew she couldn't avoid Alfred forever. They would have to talk at some point, but if there was a possibility that Marinette had lost everything again, she wanted to sleep in a comfortable bed for just a little more.

Still, Marinette knew that she would probably have to be the one to break the silence.

Grabbing the peacock miraculous, she let out a sigh, steeling her mind. It didn't take her long to find Alfred, going into the kitchen and seeing him prepare tea, as if he knew she was coming. Maybe he did.

"Hey, Alfred..."

"Hello Marinette," Alfred smiled at her gently, placing a cup of herbal tea beside her on the table. "It's probably about time we speak again, hm?"

Marinette flinched, aware that he must have been waiting for her to approach him first, and that she had left him in the dark for a week. Alfred picked up on the flinch and frowned.

"I don't blame you for that," he said. "I was out of line for speaking to you the way that I did. I know that the order is only to be revealed by those trusted by the ones trusted by the guardian."

Marinette felt her heart warm, for once being on the receiving end of an apology. Still...

"I should apologize too," Marinette said, her eyes shifting awkwardly. "You're trying to look out for me. I'm just- I've not-" she continued to cut herself off, before groaning in frustration. "For the longest time now, I haven't been a priority to myself. Honestly, I don't even think I'm in the top twenty! I guess I just... get defensive when it comes to stuff like taking care of myself."

Which in hindsight was hypocritical of her. Wasn't she the one who told Tim that he couldn't take care of anyone if he didn't take care of himself.

"That doesn't mean what you did was okay though. I know you haven't told them anything about the order, otherwise they probably would have been more assertive in finding information on me, but that doesn't mean it wasn't risky."

Alfred nodded, expression serious and understanding.

"It won't happen again," he promised.

Satisfied with his answer, Marinette pulled out the peacock miraculous from her pocket, placing it on the table near Alfred.

"She was broken when we found her," Marinette admitted. "It took the last of Master Fu's energy to fix her."

Alfred looked at Marinette, eyes wide and brimming with tears as he carefully took the brooch, it lighting up at his touch, a small peacock appearing, Tikki sitting on her shoulder and smiling encouragingly at him.

"I'll leave you two alone now," Marinette said, getting up from her seat. "You have a lot to catch up on. We can talk to Bruce about the adoption stuff later."


	9. Life in a new home

It was awkward in the living room. Marinette and Bruce were alone, for some apparent "bonding time" that was very much needed according to Alfred. Marinette scowled inwardly at the butler.

Bruce had gone along with adopting Marinette for Alfred, which she didn't quite understand. If anyone had any reason to be distrustful of her, it should be Bruce. She was in his city, fought his kids, had no history. Apparently adopting black-haired, blue-eyed kids was a habit of Bruce's.

She didn't really understand, but she appreciated it, if only somewhat.

"So..." Marinette said. "You adopt kids a lot?" Smooth Marinette, real smooth.

It worked, at least slightly, as Bruce raised an eyebrow at her. It was a reaction! But nothing more came of the topic. They went into silence again, and for a moment, Marinette wondered if he was considering taking back the adoption.

"I lost my parents too," Bruce suddenly said, and Marinette blinked, not even sure if he said anything at all. "I was 8 years old. Alfred took care of me growing up."

Marinette stayed quiet for a moment, unsure of what to say. Comfort, even if well-meant, didn't seem appropriate. So instead, she shared.

"I lost my parents a week before I came to Gotham," Marinette said, looking at her hands folded in her lap. "I stayed with my grandfather, and then he... he passed away too."

"Were you close?"

Her hands tightened.

"Very."

A moment passed before Bruce said, "No one can ever replace them." Marinette shook her head, feeling her nose starting to tingle as tears built up. She just wanted to go _ home.  _ To France, to the bakery. To the ever-present scent of baked bread and bear hugs, to flour fights and game nights.

"I'm sorry," she whispered. "I know you only did this because Alfred aske-"

"I didn't do this because Alfred asked me to," Bruce said, cutting her off. "He was going to have you under his custody, I was the one to request adopting you." 

Marinette blinked, finally looking up at the man who had let her stay in his home, despite knowing that something shady was going on.

"But... why?"

"Do I need a reason why?" He asked, and Marinette was hit with how similar it sounded to what she told Tikki, once her plan against Hawkmoth had been solidified.

A tear slid down, followed by another one, and before Marinette could even think, her weeping echoed through the halls of the manor, leaving behind a ghost of what she was feeling. She didn't even notice him hugging her until he started shushing in her ear, rocking her back on forth, and it felt so similar to what her papa would do that she just started to cry harder.

It seemed like Bruce understood though. He said nothing, just tried to calm her down, yet still let her cry, let her grieve.

* * *

Breakfast the morning after was a quiet affair. Marinette was certain that the other members of the family had heard her weeping, but none of them made a comment. It seemed that grief was a common feeling in this household, and Marinette didn't know whether to be relieved or worried.

It eased the awkward tension that was usually in the dining room, but the fact that Jason was gone somewhere probably helped too, though Marinette had the distinct feeling that he was avoiding her as much as possible.

She couldn't say, it wasn't like they had spent time together as she and Tim had, but maybe it was the looks he would sometimes send her way when he thought she wouldn't notice, questioning and doubtful.

Maybe she wasn't the most forthcoming with him either. Whatever magic that was used on him, used to bring him back, was reeking off of him, pulsating and angry, as if trying to scare her away. It could perhaps be the magic that was causing him to avoid her, and he simply didn't realize it. Or maybe he did, but refrained from saying anything.

Doing a cursory glance around the room, it seemed like almost everyone present had at one point passed away, save for herself and Tim.

Marinette wondered what caused these people to be so willing to give up everything to save lives when they got nothing in return. But then she looked at herself and realized that it was quite simple really.

The feeling of it just being the right thing to do could be strong at times, and maybe this family of vigilantes felt that too.

From what Tikki had told her, Marinette had been destined to be given the miraculous, that she was a true Ladybug. Marinette wasn't sure how to feel about that, that the fates had made such a decision about her before she was even born.

"What are you spacing out about?" Damian suddenly asked, cutting her thoughts off with a harsh tone.

"Nothing," she stated simply, to which he scoffed and turned up her nose.

"Figures you're empty in the head. Are you sure that you actually went to school before coming to Gotham?"

Marinette knew there was more to that question. They had looked her up by now, tried to find her, and they got nothing. All Damian was looking for was some type of confirmation, for her to deny any schooling so he could bust her on something he already knew the answer to.

"Yeah," Marinette said. "I've gone to the same school all my life. I skipped a grade back in elementaire."

This seemed to catch the attention of the other table occupants, Bruce looking up with raised brows.

"Really?"

"Yeah, I did pretty well in college too, though I don't really know what I should do now," she admitted a little reluctantly.

Her dream had always been to design, but now... that dream felt far away, like it was part of the life that she erased, along with everything else. Marinette shrugged.

"It's not like I'm an idiot or something, I did well in school and I worked hard for my grades, it's just... school hasn't exactly been on the forefront of my mind."

"We can discuss what you want to do later," Bruce said, and Marinette nodded, just glad that the topic was dropped for now.

Damian just continued to scowl.

* * *

"Why did you let her stay?"

Bruce let out a tired sigh as Damian asked him the question again, not the first time in the week that Damian had cornered him.

"You know, she asked me that question too," Bruce said. Damian just scoffed.

"You didn't answer my question."

"Why do you have such a problem with her staying here?" Bruce asked instead of actually telling Damian what he wanted to know.

"I feel like it's obvious! She shouldn't even be here in the first place!" Damian exclaimed. "You trust Alfred too much sometimes."

Bruce felt a spike of anger grow at this, protectiveness of the father figure of his life rising.

"I have a reason to trust Alfred as much as I do," Bruce said with an air of finality that Damian ignored in favor of continuing the argument.

"He's human, he makes mistakes," Damian said. "How do you know he hasn't misplaced his trust in that girl? How do you know she isn't just playing him to get to us?"

"There are certainly more effective ways to do that than to go through the butler, don't you think?" Bruce asked rhetorically. "If she wanted to do something to us, she would have done so by now."

"I still think you're being a fool for trusting her so easily."

There was silence between the two, Bruce refusing to answer his son at this point, and Damian refusing to step down on the idea that Marinette could maybe be trustworthy.

Of course, Bruce didn't trust Marinette. He hadn't told her about the Batcave and their nightly activities for a reason, but he wasn't about to throw her out either, not after what happened the night before, not after Alfred had already told him that the girl had nowhere to go.

Maybe he really did have a bad habit of adopting kids, but he gave them lives that were better, didn't he? An outlet for all their frustrations against the world. Heck, according to Alfred, Marinette slept in an abandoned building somewhere until she found the butler.

Leaving her now felt wrong, and besides, this way they could keep an even closer eye on her, even if she did hardly leave her room. She and Tim frequently talked apparently, not that Bruce would know. Tim was awake at the most absurd of hours, but his third son seemed to trust her well enough.

It made sense to keep her around.

She was a mystery waiting to be solved, and they were supposed to be the world's greatest detectives. If that was the truth, then they should be able to figure out what was really going on.

"I still think it's a mistake to let her stay."

"Then it's a good thing that this isn't your decision to make."

* * *

Marinette and Tim were once again in the kitchen in the middle of the night, neither of them able to sleep yet. It had become an almost nightly ritual at this point, not that Marinette minded much.

"Damian really doesn't like me much, does he?" Marinette noted absentmindedly while she was sketching. She hadn't talked about her shaky relation with Damian to anyone, but it was really starting to get on her nerves.

After their last confrontation, Marinette largely left him alone. She didn't feel like getting yelled at by someone who was only a year older than herself, but she still felt the stink-eye he would send her way, the way he would complain about her to Bruce.

"Don't mind him, he's a brat most of the time, even when he's in a good mood," Tim said, typing away on his computer.

Marinette just hummed, though her sketching slowed. It was weird. She hadn't had this much trouble with a person since Lila, and that was years ago. It didn't help that Marinette already felt like a burden to the family, she didn't tell Bruce to adopt her, she didn't tell Alfred to look out for her this way.

She didn't even realize that she had stopped sketching completely until Tim called out to her.

"This is really getting to you, isn't it?" Tim asked.

Marinette bit her lip before reluctantly nodding.

Tim sighed. "Damian didn't have an easy childhood," he told her. "He might feel threatened by you here."

"But why would he feel threatened? I'm not trying to take his family from him or anything."

"Of course!" Tim admitted. "But Damian is used to things being taken from him, all of us are. He doesn't want to lose it all."

Marinette could understand that. After Paris, after losing everything, even herself, she could only understand it too well.

"I just don't know what to do," Marinette whispered, her voice cracking.

"Give him time, it took a while before he started trusting us too," Tim said, putting a comforting hand over hers. "He'll come around at some point."

Marinette wasn't so sure about that, but she didn't say that to Tim. Instead, she nodded and went back to sketching. Peace once again entered the kitchen, though Marinette's mind was still swirling with the Damian issue.

Suddenly, a box is placed on her sketchbook, and Marinette looks up at Tim questioning. 

"Don't take what Damian says too seriously, he really is just a brat most of the time. As for that," Tim said, nodding towards the small black box he placed on her sketchbook. "That's a gift from me to you."

Slowly, Marinette lifted the lid of the box, revealing a sleek black phone.

"I figured you might need one," he explained.

Marinette looked wide-eyed at the phone, then back at Tim, before looking at the phone again and slowly shaking her head.

"I can't accept this-"

"You've had a rough couple of days. Take it."

A second passed, two, before Marinette lunged herself towards Tim, engulfing him in a tight hug.

"Thank you, thank you, thank you!" She squealed quietly, mindful of the others still sleeping.


	10. Dates in a new home

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So I've had some comments regarding the ship in this fic, whether it's Daminette or Marijon, so I feel like I should clarify that this fic is *Marijon*. Marinette and Damian will not be romantically involved in any way in this fic.
> 
> Also, this may just be me being nitpicky about my own writing, but the pacing might be a bit weird in the next couple of chapters. I had to redo my timeline and outline a couple of times to make it kinda fit, so I hope it's not too confusing. If it is, please let me know and I will try to fix it.
> 
> Sort of connected to my first note, I haven't considered any romantic ships involving Damian. This fic is about Marinette recovering from the mystery event in Paris, moving on and finding peace somewhere else with other people. Romance won't play the biggest part in this story, which is kind of why the romantic pacing might be a wee bit fast. Romance isn't the focus of this story, Marinette's recovery is.

Damian didn't try to hide his disdain for Marinette one bit. He knew his father wanted him to accept that Marinette was now part of the family, but he simply couldn't. He had no reason to trust her, no matter what Alfred said.

It felt like a leech had been let into his home and no one was doing anything to get rid of it.

To be completely honest, he was still half-convinced that she was League of Assassins member that was there to get him.

So, he made his disdain for her obvious. He wanted her gone. Bruce, however, was having none of it for some reason, trust that the butler told his father something.

And what was even going on with Alfred and Marinette? There was no way that the girl's story of her grandfather and Alfred being true, so what was their actual relation? Was Alfred betraying them?

Damian told all of this to Jon as they entered the Manor. Everyone in the household knew he didn't like the girl, so there was no point in hiding it.

"I mean really, why let her stay? I don't know what that girl has led Alfred to believe about her, but I for one don't believe a single word."

"Jon?" Marinette's voice cuts through their conversation, and Damian could hardly believe his eyes and ears for a moment because  _ Jon knows Marinette?  _ "Jon!"

"Marinette!" Jon exclaims with a smile, hugging the girl tightly, and for a moment, Damian was sure he was going to throw up. "I see you found the manor?"

"Yeah! Thank you for the address again, I would probably still be looking for Alfred if it weren't for you," For a moment, the two just stared into each others eyes and smiled and Damian had never wanted to gouge his eyes out more than in that moment.

And then what Marinette said processed in his head.

" _ You _ were the one to bring this menace into my life?" Damian asked in disbelief, his eyes wide as he looked between the two. Marinette winced.

"I bumped into her when I was running late for our study session a couple of days ago," Jon told Damian, and Damian felt like jumping out of a window because he remembered how late Jon had been and it was because of her. "We met again the day after that and kind of went on a date?" It was said in hesitance, Jon looking at Marinette with a clear question in his eyes, to which Marinette nodded before perking up.

"Oh yeah! I got a phone now!" She dug said phone out of her back pocket, and Damian reminded himself to have a very long talk with Drake later. "I can finally get your number."

Damian could hardly believe it. It was as if the two were in their own little world! Once Jon had handed back the phone to Marinette, Damian was quick to snatch his wrist and drag Jon away, but not fast enough for Jon to not dopily grin as he waved at the girl.

* * *

_ Jon: want to go out for coffee again sometime? _

Marinette had to hold back the squeal that threatened to spill from her lips. She and Jon had been texting and calling each other frequently since she finally got her phone, but they hadn't gone out on another date.

That was about to change she supposed.

She had been slightly hesitant to keep what she had with Jon going after Damian found out. She knew the youngest Wayne wasn't too fond of her, and she didn't exactly want to fuel the fire by continuing to date his best friend.

However, Marinette was practicing the act of being selfish, and Jon was cute. Plus, Tikki had chewed her out thoroughly when Marinette had voiced these thoughts.

_ "I'll be damned if I let you give another thing up just because Damian has some issues." _

Still, Marinette had the sinking feeling that Damian was plotting something. Not that she blamed him, but having to constantly look over her shoulder, feeling that she was being watched, increased her paranoia to a point where she could hardly even sleep at night.

When Marinette had accepted being adopted by Bruce Wayne, she knew things between her and the brothers would be tense. Things with Tim were fine, he was the one she was the closest with so far, then came Dick, but she had a feeling he was just more accepting and outgoing than the others.

Jason... Marinette wasn't quite sure what Jason thought of her. He looked at her like a mystery mixed with a ticking time bomb. He didn't try to reach out, and most of the time, he wasn't even at the manor. Then again, Jason didn't even seem fond of Bruce most of the time either, so she assumed it wasn't just her he had a problem with.

Damian was the one who was most clear with his disdain. He had no problem loudly proclaiming that he disliked her, didn't try to make things go smoother between the two of them, which... Marinette could accept it, but it was frustrating. She wanted to be able to make things better between the two of them. She was, technically, his sister now.

Rome wasn't built in a day, but Marinette was now nearing the end of her first month in the manor, and the constant animosity was draining.

_ Marinette: I'd love to! _

She supposed it would take more than just time to get closer to Damian, to understand him properly, but patience was a trait Marinette had learned, and sometimes she wanted to forget those lessons she was taught.

_ Jon: I'll pick you up at 3 tomorrow? _

Marinette smiled at the screen, pushing thoughts of Damian aside for later.

_ Marinette: It's a date! _

* * *

Marinette was positively buzzing when Jon picked her up the next day. She ignored the death glare shot her way by Damian, just beamed at Jon and pretended she didn't notice.

Jon noticed the glare his friend sent her way, but didn't comment. Even he knew that it wouldn't be the most tactful thing to do.

Despite Marinette's protests that they would be fine, Alfred still drove them to the main city, and while she did know that it was faster, she also knew that Alfred was enjoying "chaperoning" on her date.

It wasn't even like he didn't know Jon! From what Marinette had been told by Jon himself, he had met Damian when he was twelve and Damian was fourteen. The two had become friends despite Damian's best attempts at denying it and pushing Jon away. Maybe Marinette could ask Jon for advice...

When they arrived at the coffee shop, ordered and got seated, there was an awkward moment of silence as neither knew what to say. Marinette fidgeted in her seat, picking at her cuticles as Jon's eyes darted around the place, both of them searching for words to say.

For a moment, their eyes meet, and they both cracked. Their shared laughter caused other patrons to glare their way, but for just a second, things felt like they were exactly where they were supposed to be for Marinette.

When the two of them calmed down, they went into silence again, but this time there was a certain level of comfort to it.

"So you fell victim to the serial adopter," Jon commented suddenly.

Marinette blinked, eyebrows raised. "I uh, yeah... Not what I expected to happen when I arrived in Gotham but..." she shrugged. "I don't know how to feel about it all yet. And you don't think it's weird now that I'm technically your best friend's sister? You know Damian isn't particularly fond of me."

Jon shrugged, "Damian isn't fond of a lot of people."

Marinette let out a snort, though her expression fell quickly again. "Yeah..." She looked down, face in a frown as she turned her cup in her hands.

"Hey," Jon reached across the table, placing his hands over hers, stopping the turning of the teacup. "Just give him some time, yeah? It took me almost a year to get on his good side, you've only been part of the family for a couple of weeks."

She sighed, nodding, before looking up at him and smiled a small smile of appreciation.

"Thanks."

Jon smiled brighter than the sun, and for a moment, she was so sure her heart was going to melt.

"Nothing to thank me for," he squeezed her hands, cheeks tinted red, before he let them go again. "Now, 20 questions, I want to know more about the mysterious Marinette Wang."

Marinette was happy to oblige.

* * *

Damian felt his irritation growing as Marinette's giggles entered the manor, accompanied by his best friend's full-hearted laughter. 

Todd had been on his back all day the moment Marinette left on her date with Jon, teasing him about the fact that his "sister" was dating his best friend. It was pissing him off, both Todd, as well as Wang and Jon spending time with one another. He wasn't jealous, far from it, he had no romantic interest in either of them, but Jon was  _ his _ friend first, Jon  _ should _ be spending time with him.

Of all the people Jon could have ended up being interested in, it just had to be her. Jon didn't even decide to stop seeing her after he found out she was the girl who beat his brothers!

Damian refused to feel impressed by the fact she could do that, instead focusing on the fact that she was a threat, she should be neutralized, and not be living in the manor where the Batcave was right under her feet.

At least his father had the sense to not tell her about the vigilante work. It did surprise him, especially seeing as Damian himself was starting to grow out of the Robin name. He wanted something for himself now, create his own legacy. Perhaps the old Bat was finally considering retiring.

Damian leaned against the wall as Marinette stretched herself up to the tip of her toes, kissing Jon on his cheek before scurrying away, Damian glaring at her for a moment when she looked his way.

"I don't get what you see in her."

"And I don't get what you have against her."

It was quiet for a moment before Jon sighed.

"If it bothers you so much-"

"No, no, keep seeing her, just don't say I didn't warn you when she suddenly attacks you," Damian said, raising his hands in a placating manner.

"She's not like that," Jon said, trying to defend, despite knowing it would probably lead to nothing.

"That's easy for you to say, you don't live with her."

"And yet I've talked more to her than you have."

They fell into silence again, Damian's face carefully blank while Jon's was furrowed with worry. Suddenly, Jon walked forward and grabbed Damian's wrist, then started to drag the boy up to his room.

"What are you doing?" Damian asked indignantly, clearly not enjoying being pulled around.

"We're hanging out, no talk about girls, just playing video games." It looked like Jon wanted to say something for a moment but decided against it. Damian didn't comment.

They walked in silence until,

"I still don't get what you see in her though." 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know some people feel like this chapter might have set up a love triangle, but *it has not.* I don't know about you, but I wouldn't be too happy if my best friend was dating a girl whom I didn't like, who also just so happened to now be my sister.


	11. Chapter 11

Marinette made a couple of attempts to get closer to Damian. She knew that it was a matter she couldn't really push, and normally she wouldn't, but with her living there and being his sibling now, technically, she felt like she could at least try and ease the tensions between the two.

It wasn't even that she was trying to suck up to him, it was partly that she was genuinely sorry for what was happening. Still, if he wanted to blame anyone, he could blame Alfred. He was the one that came up with the idea of adoption. 

Her first attempt was doing what her parents had always done: going to the heart through the stomach.

She asked Alfred what Damian's favorite pastry was, and started from there. Marinette would admit, she had thought it would be something needlessly complicated, what with the way Damian seemed to believe himself more important and extravagant, but that wasn't the case.

Basbousa was surprisingly simple to bake, and with permission from Alfred, Marinette woke up early and helped prepare breakfast with the butler, taking time to make the pastries for Damian. Like a peace offering or extending an olive branch, something like that right?

The Wayne family seemed surprised to see Marinette help Alfred with getting all the food out, and their eyes widened significantly when they saw her approach Damian hesitantly.

"Okay, so I know you're not the fondest of me, and I'm not trying to force it! I just, uh... truce?"

He took the plate she handed in his direction, raised an eyebrow at her.

"Try again."

Marinette slumped, walking towards her seat with her a sigh.

Time to come up with a new plan.

* * *

Damian didn't know what he was supposed to think of Marinette's first peace offering. In front of the family, he acted cold and uninterested, which was largely true to how he felt. If she wanted him to not hate her, it would take more than just his favorite baked goods.

He didn't even try them. Tim and Dick seemed to have liked them though.

No, Damian wasn't interested in having Marinette become part of his family. What he wanted was for her to go, and he was slowly losing his patience for that to happen as time passed on.

Of course, he had already asked Bruce about getting the girl kicked out, which clearly didn't work. Going to Drake was out of the question, as it seemed the stupid duck had actually taken a liking to the girl. Grayson was Damian's favorite, but he rarely went against Bruce's orders. And Todd... well Todd didn't seem to want to be in the same building as the girl, so Damian was on his own.

It really didn't help that his best friend was dating the girl, so he definitely couldn't go to him for help on this.

Pennyworth was the sole reason the girl stayed in the first place, Damian had no doubt about that. Going to the butler was a no-go as well, though really, it was rarely even an option.

So instead, Damian took to being as cruel to the girl as he could be. He would trip, especially if she was walking down the stairs, leave snide remarks whenever she was minding her own business.

Normally, Damian wouldn't be acting as uncouth as he was at the moment, but he felt no reason to respect the intruder.

If he hardly respected his father and brothers when he first met them, what would push him to respect her? He knew the big bad bat had noticed, of course he had, but so far, he had only gotten a warning.

Damian had no doubt that Pennyworth would be taking him aside soon to have a talk, a talk Damian would very much not be interested in.

On the bright side, Damian doubted he needed much time to fulfill his plan to get rid of the pest.

* * *

Marinette wasn't actually the one at fault this time. It was Alfred.

Apparently, Damian had ruined a shirt of his, a button-down, nothing too bad, but there was a hole that needed stitching. Alfred, for whatever reason, had approached her with it, asked if she couldn't fix it for him while he went out on an errand.

Marinette agreed. It was just a hole, nothing difficult to fix, it didn't even take her very long.

The thing was just... she didn't know where to put it once she was done. Alfred didn't tell her, and something didn't feel right about leaving it in her own room. It was like the shirt just brought bad vibes. So, considering there should still be some time until Damian came back from school, Marinette saw no harm in leaving the shirt in his room.

She didn't plan on putting it back in the closet, she didn't know if he had a special order of things that he liked to keep, but she figured she could just leave it on his bed.

Despite knowing he wasn't home, she knocked on his door anyway. Marinette didn't want to upset him more than she already had, but the boy was also starting to get on her nerves. She didn't want to run into him more than necessary while still trying to make things less stifled.

When Damian didn't come and open the door like she knew would happen, Marinette opened the door and headed towards his bed.

Their rooms weren't too different, save for the fact that his was more personalized. That didn't surprise Marinette though, she hardly had anything with her when she arrived in Gotham in the first place, and it didn't feel right to her to buy anything with Bruce's or Master Fu's money.

Marinette put the shirt on the bed, but stopped dead in her tracks when a voice spoke behind her.

"Just what are you doing in my room?"

Damian's voice was cold and calculated, and she could the relation between him and Batman.

"I was just- Alfred asked me to fix- and you weren't here and-" she kept cutting herself off, getting her words mixed as she scrambled to explain that she wasn't doing anything.

"Get out!" He roared, and Marinette quickly walked out of his room. "Father will hear about this, and when he does, I will make sure that he finally kicks you out!"

Marinette didn't know whether to believe him or not, but she still felt a sinking feeling of dread in her chest as she closed her bedroom door and sunk down to the floor, the kwamis coming out to comfort her.

* * *

Damian and Marinette avoided each other since that incidence. Damian had told his father about it, but Bruce still didn't want to kick the girl out.

Luckily for Bruce, or more luckily for Damian, Bruce didn't need to be the one to kick the menace out of the house.

Damian approached Marinette's bedroom door, posture perfect, eyes cold, his steps quick and certain and confident as he walked. Damian knew what he wanted, and he also knew exactly how he was going to get it.

He knocked on her door, and when the girl opened, he kept his face schooled into an unreadable expression.

"Father has a message for you," is all he said, before pulling out his phone and clicking play on a saved audio.

"Tell Marinette to leave the vicinity and never come back! That's final."

For a moment, Damian wished he could have taken a picture of the girl's shocked face. Instead, however, he had to focus on the task at hand.

"He wants you to be gone before he gets home," Damian said, feigning disinterest and checking his wristwatch. "I would get going now if I were you."

And just like that, Damian turned around and left, leaving behind a girl crying silent tears as she slowly went back onto the bedroom that used to be her's.

Damian simply went back to his own bedroom, and when he heard the sound of the front door opening and closing, he headed down to the training room with his katana. He hadn't gotten in any proper training since the pest had arrived, he hadn't wanted to be the one to blow the family's cover.

Inside of the manor, all was warm as Damian went through his exercises, but outside where a poor girl with ladybug side-effect was walking, a storm was beginning to rage, the wind was beginning to pick up, and snow was beginning to fall. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Am I sorry? No. Not in the least.


	12. Outside of home

It was eerily quiet when Alfred returned home from his errands. He had to cut his trip short due to the impending storm, that was now raging over Gotham.

"Marinette?" He called.

Silence.

His brows furrowed as he called again, "Marinette?" Only to get no answer in return.

Worry rooted itself in his stomach as he looked outside. Could the storm have triggered her hibernation early? Alfred didn't remember much of what Fu had told him about the various different side effects a miraculous holder could experience, but he remembered the Ladybug hibernating.

An urgency in his steps, he hurried to her designated room and knocked. Nothing. With his worry only growing, he opened her door expecting to find her fast asleep in a blanket cocoon and-

Nothing.

The clothes which she had borrowed was neatly folded on the bed, but besides that, there was nothing hinting that there had ever been someone residing in the room. His worry skyrocketed, and a seed of confusion planted itself in his mind. Where was she?

As fast as he could go without running, he went to the living room, then the library, and finally the kitchen. No sign of Marinette anywhere. She wasn't anywhere in the building, neither were her things.

No one else had been home until recently except for-

Damian.

With steps that could only be counted as marching, Alfred made his way to the only blood son of Bruce, not caring that his knocking was more like banging.

Out came a frazzled looking, recently showered Damian, scowl in place to reprimand anyone who would dare to bang on his door like that. The scowl disappeared however when it was Alfred that he saw, and not one of his brothers.

"Master Damian, care to explain where Marinette is?" His voice left no room for argument, though Alfred could clearly see an argument be made in Damian's mind.

"That  _ menace _ went out. Something about a sketchbook, I didn't listen as I don't concern myself with her whereabouts. If you want to find her, I would go to Tim, he seems awfully chummy with her."

"So you wouldn't happen to know why all of her things are gone as well, would you Master Damian?" Alfred glared. "I think we are in need of a family meeting, don't you?" He didn't let Damian answer, just took him by the arm and dragged him toward the dining room, while he called for the rest of the family to meet..

Alfred ignored the curious glances toward Damian, depositing the boy in a chair and standing behind it, making sure Damian made no move to leave.

"Alfred? What's going on?" Bruce asked as he took a seat. The other three sons nodded, all taking a seat at the table.

"I was wondering if any of you knew anything about the current whereabouts of Marinette Wang?"

"Alfred, I already told you-"

"I don't care about the lie you're trying to convince yourself I would believe, what is worrying me is that Marinette is not inside while a storm is currently taking place," Alfred snapped.

That seemed to catch the attention of the rest of the family.

"Marinette isn't here?" Bruce asked.

"No, and the only person who had been here alone with her was Master Damian."

All eyes turned to the youngest son, who squirmed under the scrutiny.

"I didn't do anything to that pest!" Damian exclaimed, though he refused to meet anyone's gaze.

"Damian," Bruce barked. He had been aware that Damian didn't like the girl, but he didn't think Damian would actually do something to her. "What did you do?"

Damian tried to hold the facade, but the imploring glare that Bruce focused on him broke his reserve.

"I don't know where she is," Damian admitted. "I convinced her you had kicked her out." He said, looking at Bruce.

_ "What." _

"You refused to do anything about her, so I took it into my own hands." For a moment, Alfred thought Bruce was going to hit his son, but it seemed he refrained. "I didn't know about the incoming storm. I don't know where she is."

There was a palpable silence in the dining room, no one moving nor saying anything. Alfred just wanted to find Marinette as soon as possible.

"I should be able to track her phone and find her location. Damian should call Jon and get him to help pick her up. It's too dangerous for us to go out with the weather like this."

Bruce didn't take his eyes off his youngest, just nodded his head to tell Tim to do it.

"Don't think you're off the hook for this," Bruce growled at Damian. "Once Marinette is found, I'll find a fitting punishment for this little stunt. For now, ask Jon if he can help find her."

* * *

It was cold, mind-numbingly so, Marinette's fingers twitching while the rest of her was shaking uncontrollably. She didn't even have the power to take out the horse miraculous and get away to somewhere warmer.

Marinette wasn't sure how she ended up in the abandoned apartment she had been sleeping in before, all that really registered in her mind was the fact that she was in some sort of cover from the storm. She wasn't surprised Bruce had ended up kicking her out, what with the way his son clearly didn't like her.

It wasn't like Bruce hadn't tried, he had let her grieve, had let her feel, but Marinette had felt more like a burden than anything else to that family. She hugged her backpack closer to her chest, Tikki blearily peeking out from it. She was tired too.

Marinette knew what was happening to her. It wasn't the first time she had hibernated, but it was the first time that it hit her this hard. Normally, she walk around the entire day feeling weak and tired, and then she would fall asleep, only to wake up a couple of days later. It had terrified her parents the first time around.

Apparently, or at least according to Tikki, a Ladybug holder would spend the time they were hibernating to heal themselves. It was to give the holder a chance to rest, in mind, body, and soul.

Warmth filled her chest, like a blanket of protection was placed over her, and Marinette could feel the lids of her eyes weighing down on her. She wanted nothing more than to sleep even if it would be on the hard wooden floor, with the fake warmth that she knew wasn't really there, but she resisted.

It would be the first time she had hibernated outside of her home. Not that she would ever hibernate in her home back in Paris again, but the thought still sent a pang through her chest. The promise of being able to see everyone as she just closed her eyes was so tempting.

Her phone started vibrating violently in her pocket, demanding attention. With shaky hands, she pulled it out, just managing to answer, slowly putting it up to her ear.

"H-hello?" Her voice was meek, barely louder than a whisper. She could see her breath as she spoke.

"Marinette!" Jon's voice cut through, the complete opposite of her own, and filled with concern and worry. "I'm gonna come find you, okay? Just stay where you are, and I'll come get you!"

Without thinking, she slurred to him an address, as well as which window she had gotten in through. She was tired though.

"Jon... Jon, I'm... I'm gonna sleep now..."

"Wait, wait, Mari, stay awake! Stay awake for me okay, I'll be there soon, I promise. Just- just stay awake!"

"'m so tired..."

She didn't respond to the panicked yelling on the other end of the line.

* * *

Panic coursed through Jon as he flew through Gotham, heading towards the abandoned apartment complex where Marinette was. His mind was in disarray, thoughts centered around the blue-eyed girl, as well as his best friend who could possibly have doomed her.

Jon was angry at Damian, there was no doubt about that, but he couldn't focus on that right now. What he needed to focus on was finding Marinette who was probably freezing at this point.

He didn't want to think about the fact that she was probably unconscious by now.

When he found the window Marinette had told him she had gone through, he kicked the wood in, not caring about the loud noise. He faintly hoped it would wake Marinette up.

Frantically, he looked around, until he spotted her in the corner of the room, her backpack clutched tightly to her chest, glowing faintly red. Jon didn't give himself time to think about it though, just picked up the unconscious girl and hurried back to the manor.

Marinette was cold, her fingers and lips slightly blue. She wasn't shivering though.

The storm was still going strong, but Jon powered through it. When he had gotten the call from Damian that Marinette was out there somewhere, Jon's thoughts hadn't been on the storm, they had been on getting her somewhere safe, so that was what he was doing now.

The winds were cutting, the snow feeling like a thousand needle pricks, but he ignored it all in favor of getting Marinette somewhere safe as fast as possible.

She was wearing what she wore the first day he met her, black and red letterman jacket, black pants, and a redshirt. He didn't want to think about how she must have been walking in the storm wearing that.

Jon reached the manor, opening the doors and running inside, not caring about manners as he reached the living room.

"I found her," he breathed out. "She was unconscious when I got there though. I don't know for how long."

Alfred came up to him with hurried steps, and Jon almost wanted to protest when the girl was removed from his hold, but he stopped himself, knowing that Alfred knew what to do.

"We need to heat her up, slowly," his voice was shaking, his eyes trained on her backpack rather than the family he was talking to. "I fear that the damage has already been done, however." Alfred didn't give the chance to question his words as he wrapped the young girl up in a bundle of blankets and placed her in front of the fireplace.

The red glowing only grew stronger.


	13. Kwamis at Home

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm so sorry for this late update, I've been in a bit of a slump lately (which you might be able to tell by the length of this chapter).

Marinette was still sleeping. That was all Jon could think about at the moment as she laid there on the pillow covered floor in front of the fireplace. She was completely enveloped by red now, glowing ever so softly. 

Alfred had gone silent since he placed her there, his face set in a frown. The rest of the family didn't dare say anything.

Jon refused to go home though. He had already contacted his parents and said he would be staying with Damian, but he didn't say any more than that. He wasn't sure if it was a good idea to share with his parents what was going on yet, especially as Bruce looked more and more angry by the passing minute. Jon thought for a second Bruce was going to finally speak up, but Alfred beat him to it.

"We should move her to her bed and check on her again tomorrow."

It gave a start in the rest of the family. They probably didn't think he would have said anything.

Alfred gave Bruce a pointed look, Bruce's eyes narrowed but he didn't say anything to the butler, just got up and walked over to Marinette, before crouching down to pick her up.

The moment he touched her though, he jolted back, his arms convulsing slightly.

"What," he growled out, voice low and threatening. "was that?"

Hesitantly, Dick stepped forward and tried to pick her up too.

It came with the same result.

"Alfred?" Dick asked, confusion lacing his voice as he looked at the butler.

"It's a protective barrier," a new voice spoke.

Everyone's eyes flew to the sound, settling on a floating black creature with acid green eyes.

"Only people Marinette trusts will be able to touch her now."

Its voice sounded masculine, but still fairly light. Jon hadn't even realized that there was another living creature in here.

Bruce stood to attention, seemingly categorizing the, now that Jon got a closer look, cat-like creature as a threat.

Dick looked confused between the cat and Marinette, Tim was muttering something about coffee, while Damian seemed more fascinated by it than anything.

Alfred... Jon wasn't sure. His eyes had widened just a little when the creature revealed itself, but now Alfred was back to his usual neutral expression.

"Plagg, is it really wise to reveal yourself now?" Alfred asked, and the cat, Plagg, narrowed his acidic eyes at the butler.

Bruce snapped his eyes to his butler, rather than at Plagg, his eyebrows furrowed as he realized his butler knew more than he had let on.

"I don't take orders from  _ you, _ " Plagg hissed. "Not after that stunt you pulled on Marinette. She may have forgiven you for what you did, but I haven't, and neither has Tikki."

"What are you?" Bruce growled out threateningly, but Plagg only rolled his eyes before looking defiantly at the man who was a supposed pillar of justice.

"None of your business," Plagg replied simply in a bored tone.

Silence filled the room again, everyone staring at Plagg with various expressions.

"Plagg-" Alfred started, only to be cut off by Plagg flying over to Jon, giving him a calculated look.

"She trusts you."

Jon gaped for a moment, his mouth opening and closing as he looked into the acidic green eyes of the cat-like creature. Plagg seemed to lose his patience though, as he pointedly looked at Marinette before looking back at Jon.

"Oh, right," Jon scrambled over to her, and with the slightest bit of hesitancy, picked her up in his arms again.

Relief filled his chest as he wasn't shocked like Bruce or Dick, and Marinette became a comforting weight in his arms.

* * *

After Marinette had been placed in her bed, surrounded by blankets the Wayne family, Alfred and Jon all moved to the dining table, the little flying black cat following them, despite Alfred's protests.

"So," Bruce was the one to break the silence, looking at the butler with a hard to read expression. "Are you finally going to explain to me what's going on, or are you going to keep us in the dark now while Marinette won't wake up?"

The reminder of Marinette and her current situation made Alfred wince.

Silence reigned in the dining room as Alfred thought over his response, for the first time since Marinette arrived feeling nervous about what might happen, much less sure of himself.

"Marinette is not the granddaughter of a friend of mine," Alfred said, even if the faces the family made already said that they knew that. "but she did know him. Wang Fu." Alfred looked at the kwami of destruction that was flying not that far away from him as if asking what he was allowed to say.

"Why did she come here? Why was she looking for you?" Dick asked, his tone much kinder than Bruce's.

"I think we would be better at explaining that," A new voice spoke, and everyone in the room turned their heads and saw a little floating, green turtle.

"Wayzz," Alfred breathed, Wayzz simply nodding in acknowledgment.

"What are you?" Bruce growled out, most likely growing more and more confused by the second.

"My name is Wayzz, Kwami of protection. And this," the kwami said, flying over to Plagg," is Plagg, the Kwami of destruction. Marinette is our Guardian."

No one spoke for a moment, Wayzz looking at them all with a calculating gaze, waiting to see if any of them would speak. When it was clear they wouldn't, he continued.

"Us kwami are... god-like beings. We are attached to this realm through the miraculous, pieces of jewelry that holders wear. Marinette is one such holder. However, there are certain," Wayzz threw a glance at the group at the table, his expression worried. "side-effects, that come with it. Marinette is the holder of the Ladybug miraculous, of luck and creation, but just like a ladybug, she will at times need to hibernate. I'm assuming her exposure to the ongoing storm is what set off her hibernation."

This information received mixed reactions from the occupants of the table. Jon looked relieved at the information, taking it as Marinette waking up again at some point, even if he didn't know when.

Bruce's face was kept carefully blank as he looked at the kwami however, his expression not changing once under Wayzz's explanation.

"Why is she here?" Bruce asked, his voice carefully steady.

"While being the holder of one miraculous, Marinette also holds the current title of Great Guardian of The Miraculous. It is her duty to protect the miraculous and make sure that they end up in the right hands. She came here to recruit Alfred Pennyworth, a former miraculous holder, to become part of the Order of the Miraculous."

All eyes in the room turned to Alfred, all questioning the butler in their own way, with their own amount of urgency.

"It's true," the butler confirmed. "The former guardian was a friend of mine, Wang Fu. I don't what happened to him, but he sent Marinette to find me."

"What exactly does the Guardian do?" Tim was the one to ask the question this time, his eyebrows furrowed.

The two kwamis shared a look before returning their gazes to Tim, Plagg being the one to talk this time.

"The miraculous, the order, the guardian and all the holders have the duty to uphold balance in this world. Marinette is trying to rebuild the order and try to keep peace, that's what the order and the miraculous have always done." The kwami scoffed, looking the heroes in the room up and down. "We've been around to protect the world long before you guys entered the scene."

Silence ruled the room once more as they all tried to process the fact that a 17-year-old was tasked with protecting the world, seemingly on her own.


	14. Back home

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I would like to thank MarieTheRougue for coming up with basically the entirety of the up/coming arc!

The smell of freshly baked bread was the first thing Marinette noticed as she came to. Then she heard her mother calling her from downstairs, and warmth filled her, simply because of the familiarity of it all. It brought tears to her eyes, but for the life of her, she couldn't figure out why.

Running a hand through her hair (Marinette could have sworn it was short and not long anymore), letting out a tired sigh, before swinging her legs over the edge of her bed. Her body was sore, and as she stretched, she heard the satisfying cracks and pops from her back, sighing again, but this time in contentment.

Marinette looked around her pink bedroom, her eyes landing on the sleeping form of Tikki, bringing a fond smile on her lips. She would wake up the kwami later, Marinette thought as she checked her phone. It was Saturday, and as far as she could remember, she didn't have any plans. She could Tikki sleep in then.

"Marinette?" She hears her Maman call again.

"Coming!"

She looked at Tikki again, her smile warm and content, before opening the hatch to her room and going down.

Everything was right where it should be.

* * *

"How do you know about that?" Bruce's voice was sharp and cutting as he snapped at the kwami of destruction, an expression of rage and confusion overtaking his features.

"I can sense death, old man," Plagg huffed as if insulted. Then, he grinned, his cat-like appearance becoming more apparent, if possible. "and just so you know, so can Marinette."

A stillness entered the dining room which hadn't been there before, not even when Plagg or Wayzz had revealed themselves at first.

"Are you implying something, cat?" Bruce hissed, which seemed to annoy Plagg more than anything.

"Other than you guys being terrible at keeping secrets? No, nothing at all," Plagg said 

A growl could be heard from Bruce, but he seemed to bite it back, thinking better than to retort another time at an already upset pocket god.

Awkwardness filled in along with the silence, Plagg seemingly not caring about the news he shared with the family, as if it was obvious Marinette had known, and maybe it was. Not that the family knew that.

Jon looked worriedly from Plagg to the rest of the family, as if trying to find something to say that could diffuse the situation at all, but he stayed quiet, his brows furrowed in thought as he mulled everything over.

"So she's known our identities all this time?" Tim asked.

"Not all the time," Plagg said, in a tone that implied he thought of them all as idiots. "I think she figured it out after her first or second night here."

"Why didn't she tell us she knew?" Dick asked, his voice sounding much less accusing than the rest of the family.

"You didn't tell her and she has no use for the information anyway," Plagg shrugged. "She was waiting for you to feel comfortable to tell her yourselves if you were even going to."

The awkward stillness returned, but this time, everyone n the room thought of every interaction they previously had with Marinette. It made Tim pause.

_ "You can't take care of anything if you don't take care of yourself first." _

Had she known then? Maybe that was what had given it all away. If she knew who they were, then she also knew that Tim was the one who she fought.

"When you say that she can sense death—" Jason started.

"You reek of Lazarus pit," Plagg said, giving Jason a look. "I think you gave her nausea that first dinner, and not just from your awful people skills."

Tim snorted, but he tried to stifle it as Jason glared his way.

"Marinette will probably want to help you with that, you too," Plagg said, looking at Damian. "You don't reek as bad as the Walking Dead over there, but your soul is not as clear as it could be."

Wayzz waved Plagg off, probably to get the cat to stop talking.

"This is a conversation to have when Marinette is awake," Wayzz said, interrupting them before they could continue. "and that may not be until this winter season is over."

Everyone, save for Plagg and Wayzz, froze. That was 3 months. Alfred looked at the two kwamis, panicked.

"The balance-"

"Is not as important as Marinette recovering," Plagg cut the butler off with a heated glare. "and there's nothing we can do about it without her, anyways. Even if we were to get a new Guardian, _ which we won't, _" he stressed, "Marinette would be the one to hand over the Guardian title, which she needs to be awake to do so. Not that it matters, because it won't happen."

If looks could kill, Alfred would have been dead where he stood. Considering it was the very embodiment of destruction that was glaring at him, maybe that wasn't so far off.

"Alfred brings up a fair point," Damian said suddenly, and the glare was quickly directed in his direction. "you're valuing the life of one person over that of the entire world."

"Someone has to," Plagg snipped. "and considering it won't be any of you guys, it might as well be us."

"The Order is supposed to be unbiased," Alfred said, regaining his bearings.

"Which is why Marinette is the Guardian," Wayzz said, not letting Plagg any closer to the family as he could see the kwami of destruction wanted to. "Marinette is more than willing to sacrifice her own life for that of the rest of the world."

That finally seemed to shut the family up. Jon looked heartbroken knowing this, even if it was something he started to realize deep down.

"But she will wake up, right?" Jon asked, and it was the first time he asked the kwamis anything directly, he realized.

Wayzz looked at him with a gentle smile on his face and flew up in front of Jon, landing on the hand Jon extended for him.

"Marinette is strong, she will return. Despite everything, she is not the type to give up."

It was weird, hearing how others, how tiny gods, saw Marinette, how her strengths were why they believed so strongly she would return.

"Have faith in her. She has come too far not to have it."

* * *

Marinette's parents had gone down to the bakery already, but that wasn't much of a surprise. The mornings were always the busiest.

Her maman must have made breakfast though, as a plate of pancakes and a glass of orange juice was placed on the table already. She would have to thank her maman later. Despite how quiet it was, the ever-familiar scent baked bread reached her nose from downstairs and tension eased from Marinette's shoulders.

There was a bone-deep feeling of rightness that left Marinette feeling content, that this was how everything was supposed to be. And yet, something felt off. She had been so cold when she was sleeping, and this warmth felt... manufactured.

The thought left before she had the chance to process it however, a whisper of worry from another life.

* * *

“Are we just going to leave her here?” Damian asked, and the sharp glares he received from- _ everyone _ simply made him glare back. “I’m not saying we need to leave her, I simply think she should be somewhere we can monitor how she’s doing more closely."

That made every one pause. He had a point, even if they didn’t want to admit it.

“I thought you hated her,” Tim said, making Damian level his glare at him instead of everyone in general.

“I may not be fond of her, but even I know it would be stupid to leave her without proper supervision,” Damian said indignantly, lifting his nose up in the air. “Besides,” he mumbled. “It’s my fault she’s like this.”

A second passed in silence, then another.

“Well yeah, no shit,” Jason said, shaking his head like it was the most obvious thing in the world. “You kicked her out during a _ storm _.”

Jon looked at Damian wide-eyed.

“_ You _ did that?” There was clear disbelief in his voice. Damian hadn’t told him what happened, only that Marinette was missing during the storm and that they needed some help finding her. “You _ kicked her out?” _

Jon’s voice became harsh as he glared at Damian.

“Why would you do that?”

“I wasn’t the only one distrustful of her, Todd avoided her like the plague!”

“Yeah, avoided her,” Jason said defensively. “I didn’t kick her out!”

The yelling continued, only growing louder and louder as Bruce lost control of the situation, if he ever did have control over the situation in the first place.


End file.
